The Kurdish Issue and the Conflict in Syria in Turkey’s Security Policy

Bulletin PISM, No 89 (422), September 24, 2012
The Polish Institute of International Affairs

Konrad Zasztowt *

The Syrian civil war and conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) are interrelated problems for Turkey’s national security. As a result of the evacuation of the Syrian regime’s troops, the Kurdish organisations took over control of the northeastern region of Syria. Turkey fears that the Syrian Kurds’ autonomy will become a base for PKK guerrilla attacks on Turkish territory, and does not rule out intervention in Syria. Any involvement of Turkey, the U.S. or NATO in the Syrian conflict should, however, mean equal treatment of all Syrian ethnic groups.

* Konrad Zasztowt is an analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs. He specializes in the South Caucasus and Central Asia regions. Previously he worked at the National Security Bureau (2008 – 2010), where he monitored  international security issues in the Black Sea and Caspian regions.

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