Recent Developments of US and Turkish Involvement in the Syrian Conflict

Download or read book Recent Developments of US and Turkish Involvement in the Syrian Conflict written by Yousef Zarea and Sebastian Maier and published by King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (KFCRIS). This book was released on 2018-12-01 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recently, the armed conflict in Syria has witnessed an increasing political, military, and operational role of two of the conflict’s major stakeholders: Turkey and the United States. The implications of Washington’s and Ankara’s evolving foreign and security policies vis-à-vis Syria showcase how the connotation of foreign interference has become a synonym for the intractable reality on the ground, making inclusive, tangible diplomatic compromise a daunting task. Accordingly, the paper will first outline the growing role of Turkey’s political and military engagement and its ambivalent effect on the international level as well as on a number of local actors such as SDF/YPG, NLF, HTS, and ISIS. And second, the paper will describe the two major and inconsistent reworkings and shifts of US policy on Syria in 2018 and the possible immediate and medium-term implications for other non-state and state stakeholders with significant leverage in the conflict, including Russia, Iran, the Syrian Kurds, Turkey, and Israel.