Wednesday, May 30, 2012

What Drives Turkey's New Syria Stance? A Fear of Two Kurdistans

What Drives Turkey's New Syria Stance? A Fear of Two Kurdistans

Soner Cagaptay

CNN Global Public Square

May 23, 2012

When the Syrian uprising began last spring, Turkey initially stayed behind Washington. It shied away from criticizing the regime of Bashar al-Assad, instead asking al-Assad to reform.

When Damascus refused, however, Ankara moved ahead of Washington, taking an aggressive posture against al-Assad and suggesting it was ready to take action to force him to step down.

More:What Drives Turkey's New Syria Stance? A Fear of Two Kurdistans - The Washington Institute for Near East Policy