2011 – 2013 DÖNEMİ TÜRKİYE VE SURİYE İLİŞKİLERİ: YAKINLIKTAN ÇIKMAZA

Özet

Bu makalede, Türk-Suriye ilişkilerinin nasıl ortak tarihi ve kültürel bir geçmişten ortaya çıktığı ve iki taraf arasındaki ilişkilerin arka planından bahsedilmekle birlikte, Arap Baharı sonrası iki ülke arasında gerginlikleri derinleştiren yapısal ve siyasi sebepler incelenmiştir. 2000 yılında Suriye'de Bashar al-Assad'ın iktidara gelişi ve 2002 yılında Türkiye'de Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi'nin yükselişi ile ikili ilişkiler yeni bir boyut kazanmıştır. Bunun ardından, Türkiye ve Suriye arasındaki ilişkileri geliştirmek için siyasi ve ekonomik işbirliği anlaşmaları yapılmıştır. Öte yandan, Suriye'de Arap Baharı'nın ortaya çıkması ve yayılmasıyla, Türkiye bölgede yaşanmakta olan krizle ve yeni gelişmelerle yüz yüze gelmiş ve iki ülke arasındaki gerginliğin azaltılmasındaki devamlılık mümkün olmamıştır. Türkiye başlangıçta Assad yönetimine, politik reformları gerçekleştirmesi için çağrıda bulunmuş ve Türkiye'nin de dâhil olduğu bölgesel ve uluslararası aktörler ülke içindeki krizin barışçıl bir çözümü için aracılık yapmaya çalışmıştır. Çeşitli toplantılar ve konferanslar sonrasında altı maddelik Annan Planı hazırlanmış ancak Suriye krizine somut çözüm üretilmesine yönelik tüm girişimler başarısız olmuştur. Bu çıkmaz karşısında yaşamış olduğu hayal kırıklığı ve kendi sınırının hemen yanı başında cereyan eden gelişmeler, Türkiye'nin kendisini daha yalnız hissettiği bir ortam yaratmış ve Suriye krizinin neden olabileceği olası siyasi, ekonomik, sosyal sorunları tekrar gözden geçirip daha geniş bir bakış açısı geliştirme gerekliliğini ortaya koymuştur. Tüm bu veriler ışığında, bu çalışma, bölgesel ve küresel aktörlerin, hem bölgesel hem de küresel etkileri olan Suriye krizine barışçıl ve etkin çözüm üretme konusuna yetersiz kalmış olmaları ve bu süreçte Türkiye ve Suriye arasındaki ilişkilerin boyutunun nasıl değişime uğradığı konularına odaklanmaktadır. Bununla birlikte çalışma, krizin doğasına yönelik farklı bakış açılarını tanımlayıcı ve analiz edici özellikler ortaya koymaktadır

Abstract

This article reveals how Turkish-Syrian relations have evolved from a common historical background, culture and civilization. Times of tension have occurred in this mutual relationship during which both sides have experienced conflict, enmity and heightened security concerns. Bashar al-Assad’s ascent to power in Syria in 2000 and the rise of the Justice and Development Party in 2002 in Turkey marked a new stage in bilateral relations. At that time, Turkey and Syria were engaged in political and economic cooperation to improve their relations. However, with the emergence and spread of the Arab Spring into Syria, the relaxation of tensions could not be perpetuated. The effects of the Arab Spring were felt in Syrian society by March 2011, when Syrians were exposed to the cruelty and increasing bloodshed of the Assad regime. Turkey initially called for political reforms from the Assad administration that did not occur. Regional and international actors, including Turkey, subsequently attempted to broker a peaceful resolution for the crisis. Several meetings and conferences were organized, and a six-point Annan Plan was prepared, but all attempts failed to produce concrete results. Turkish-Syrian relations continued to deteriorate. Bilateral relations entered a phase of disengagement during which several tension-escalating incidents occurred, such as the downing of military jets by both sides and bomb explosions on Turkish territory. This study focuses on the inability of both regional and international actors to produce a peaceful and effective resolution to the Syrian crisis, which has had regional and global effects. The study also describes and analyzes various perspectives regarding the nature of the crisis This article reveals how Turkish-Syrian relations have evolved from a common historical background, culture and civilization. Times of tension have occurred in this mutual relationship during which both sides have experienced conflict, enmity and heightened security concerns. Bashar al-Assad’s ascent to power in Syria in 2000 and the rise of the Justice and Development Party in 2002 in Turkey marked a new stage in bilateral relations. At that time, Turkey and Syria were engaged in political and economic cooperation to improve their relations. To that end, bilateral agreements were concluded between the sides. All those improvements resulted in an atmosphere where both actors managed to overcome past enmities and biases. However, since the start of the “Arab Spring”, Turkey, who had previously assumed a policy of “zero problems with the neighbors”, experienced the new realities of the region with the emergence of the Syrian crisis through a period in which the struggle for power in Syria transformed into a bloody civil war. Turkey initially struggled to quickly implement policies that would preserve the stability and unity of Damascus. Once the problem escalated, Turkey attempted to determine whether the Assad regime would succeed in controlling the opposition in the country. Because the Assad regime failed to accomplish that objective, Turkey warned the administration and demanded the implementation of necessary reforms in an attempt to prevent the increasing incidents from deepening the social conflict in Syria. Turkey cultivated intimate relations with the Syrian administration until quite recently but struggled to encourage transformation of the regime by means of constitutional reforms. Because Turkey’s expectations of Syrian reforms were not satisfied, Turkey called for Assad’s removal from power and attempted to encourage countries in the region to actively support sanctions against Syria. Moreover, she started to offer explicit support to the Syrian opposition; backing up their political and military organizations. Then, Turkish sanctions on the Damascus administration followed, which were responded with counter-sanctions by the Assad regime. As a result, bilateral relations continued to deteriorate. As a further step, the Turkish administration aimed for a regime change in Syria by means of a regional and international pressure; namely UN Security Council. However, Russian and Chinese veto of the UN resolution concerning the Syrian crisis made them center of criticism. From the Turkish perspective, the Russian and Chinese policies drove Syria into a greater state of chaos. Following the failure of the resolution by the Damascus administration, other steps were taken to provide a solution for the Syrian issue. A-six point UN proposal was prepared in April 2012, with Kofi Annan taking part as the intermediary between the sides. Moreover, “Friends of Syria” meetings were held in order to put a halt to the Syrian tragedy and establish a peaceful environment. Nevertheless, bilateral relations continued to worsen even further after the shot-down of a Turkish F-4 jet in 2012 by the Syrian security forces and when mortar shells fired by Syrian military forces struck Akçakale, a town in Turkey, killing and injuring Turkish citizens. Once more, regional and international efforts to produce a peaceful solution for the Syrian problem remained inadequate and Turkey was disappointed over again. In fact, Turkey’s miscalculation of the Assad regime’s resilience, the structure of the opposition and the efficiency of regional actors all contributed to Turkey’s disappointment that its expectations for Syria were not fulfilled. All those developments paved the way for a feeling of isolation from Turkish point of view in relation to the Syrian crisis. As the crisis continued to deepen and turn out more severe, Turkey has begun addressing the Syrian strife occurring near its borders with more caution, being aware of the severe consequences that the chaos would bear in case Turkey made miscalculations in approaching the problem. Turkey has also been concerned about the political, economic and social problems likely to be generated as a consequence of social disintegration in Syria, which could resul