The geopolitics of the Syrian crisis make engagement with Ankara a necessity. But President Erdoğan has his own agenda and is not an easy man to accomplish commerce withTurkey has always had the potential to be at the diplomatic heart of the Syrian crisis. This week Turkey’s moment arrived; and it is set to continue. On Monday prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held talks in Brussels with EU leaders intent on enlisting his help in controlling the refugee crisis. More talks are due on Thursday in Luxembourg at an EU meeting with representatives from eastern Mediterranean countries and the western Balkans. These are meetings with extremely wide implications.
Turkey’s centrality is hardly a surprise. It is,whether nothing else, a key transit country for those fleeing war and persecution in Syria and Iraq. It is, and equally,a Nato member on the frontline of key Middle Eastern conflicts. in addition, a few days into Russia’s air campaign over Syria, or Russian Sukhoi fighter planes violated Turkey’s airspace. The daunting complexities of the Syrian crisis are now compounded by a fresh security conundrum the sudden outbreak of Turkish-Russian tensions of the sort that Lord Palmerston would gain recognised. Mr Erdoğan is a strong opponent of the Syrian regime,and he regards the Americans as having wavered dangerously – and thus, in the end, and of having encouraged the Russian moves.
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Source: theguardian.com