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If the Crisis is What We Make of It: Turkey and the Uprisings in Syria*

Gencer Özcan

Introduction

With its longevity, manifold of tragic outcomes and deadly fallouts, the crisis in Syria has already been deemed one of the historical events that changed the political landscape in the Middle East. Although the uprisings were set off by Syria’s own political dynamics, the crisis they instigated was manifestation of a power struggle for regional supremacy. Of those that took side in the struggle, Turkey was one of the countries that immediately became involved in the crisis and, alongside the others, had significant impact on the course of events. Given the intimate relations the Justice and Development Party (JDP) governments cultivated with the Syrian regime, Turkey’s reaction to the uprisings was of special interest.

Özcan, Gencer, “The JDP’s Changing Discursive Strategies towards Israel: Rhetoric vs. Reality”, Uluslararası İlişkiler, Volume 15, No. 57, 2018, pp. 19-32.

*The research on which this chapter was based was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey - TÜBİTAK 1001 Project (Project No.:112K172).