Turkey Changing Tack on Syria
While there is speculation and anticipation about the possible end of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Turkey’s challenges in Syria are far from over, writes Semih Idiz.
Speculation may be increasing about the nearing end for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Yet his future and that of his regime remain as uncertain as ever for Turkey, despite Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s prediction in August that “Assad’s days are numbered, not by years, but by weeks or months.”
Recent remarks by Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa (considered in Ankara to be a moderate Sunni member of the Baath regime) are not encouraging either with regard to Davutoglu’s forecast. Talking to the pro-Assad Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar earlier in the week Sharaa pointed to a deadlock in his country.
"The opposition cannot decisively settle the battle and what the security forces and army units are doing will not achieve a decisive settlement" Sharaa said, according to a translation of his remarks carried by the BBC. He went on to declare that what was needed for Syria was a “historic settlement” that involves a “national unity government.”
The government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, however, had initially placed all its bets on a military victory by the Sunni lead Syrian opposition. At times it even seemed that both Erdogan and Davutoglu had staked their political reputations on this outcome.
