Turkey’s Syrian Dilemma: Testing the ‘Regional Solutions for Regional Problems’ Proposition

Commentary (European Policy Centre) 9 July 2012

Joshua W. Walker *

Since the beginning of the uprisings in Syria, Turkey has been cautiously weighing its options as it decides how to deal with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s brutal crackdown and the ongoing humanitarian disaster unfolding in its own backyard, writes Joshua W. Walker in this Commentary.

Having claimed regional leadership for itself and proclaiming a policy of ‘zero problems with neighbours’, Ankara’s lofty rhetoric has put Turkey in the international spotlight over Syria. Due to Turkey’s own domestic evolution, and the resulting self-confidence vis-à-vis the world that it has developed over the last decade of reform, it is uniquely placed to play a decisive role in Syria. At the same time, the domestic and international dimensions for Turkey of the Syrian situation make it one of the most difficult foreign policy challenges that Ankara has ever had to face.

* Joshua W. Walker is a Transatlantic Fellow responsible for the Turkey programme in Washington, DC at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

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