Turkey, the Syrian crisis and the policy of confronting the rise of Kurdistan

پژوهش نامه ایرانی سیاست بین الملل

Article 3, Volume 9, Issue 1 - Serial Number 17, June 2021, Pages 55-84   

Document Type: مقالات

DOI: 10.22067/irlip.2021.21328.0

Authors

mostafa khiri; faramarz tagylu^*

Abstract

The Arab uprisings in Syria did not lead to the overthrow of the Assad regime, but to a civil war between the Syrian groups and the competition of regional and trans-regional powers over getting influence in Syria. The result of such a situation is the control of Kurdistan by Democratic Alliance, which is considered as the Syrian branch of the PKK. The present article aims to examine the Turkish strategy in the face of the threats posed by the emergence of a Kurdish Autonomous Region in the aftermath of the Syrian crisis along the southern borders of Turkey.Therefore, the nature of the Syrian crisis and the ways of controlling Syria’s Kurdistan by P.Y.D have been analyzed. According to research findings, Turkey, following a policy of patience and passivity towards ISIL and using Barezany leverage,  initially attempted to prevent the emergence of Syria's Kurdistan and controlling it by the P.Y.D, but with the advent of the Syrian Kurdistan, most of which arose from the strategic withdrawal of Assad forces from northern Syria and the Western support of P.Y.D., Ankara turning toward Iran-Russia axis and moving toward military presence in Syria, tried to curb the threats made by P.Y.D. in Syria.

Keywords

Turkey; Syria; Kurdistan; PKK; P.Y.D; ISIL

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