December 7, 2011
Threats from Kurdish terrorists, concern that the Arab Spring uprising could spill into Turkey, and continued support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by Russia and China have caused the Turkish government to quietly back away from its vocal support for anti-government protesters in Syria. Turkey’s reversal could be a serious setback for the Syrian uprising and may presage similar reassessments by other states.
2009 photo of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and Syrian President Assad meeting in Aleppo, Syria. (AP Photo/SANA
Turkey has largely led the effort to support the Syrian opposition to oust Assad, who has led the country since 2000.Turkey’s opposition to Assad’s brutal crackdown appeared to grow stronger on November 22 when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Assad to step down and compared him to Muammar Qadaffi.Ankara has worked closely with the Muslim Brotherhood to support the Syrian opposition, aligning its aims against Syria with its broader regional goal of supporting Islamist trends sweeping through several Arab nations. In the last two weeks, however, Turkish media affiliated with the ruling Turkish AK Party have begun expressing reservations over focusing so narrowly on Assad’s ouster.The Turkish government itself has also shown signs of moderating its stance against Assad, although it continues to take action to isolate Syria, such a recent decision to suspend a Turkey-Syria free-trade agreement.
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