My new paper for Chatham House on Turkey’s response to the Syria crisis can be downloaded here. The summary states:
- After a decade of cooperation and closeness with Syria, Turkey’s policy has changed radically as a result of the 2011–12 crisis in Syria. It is now openly calling for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and actively sponsoring the opposition.
- Since March 2011 Turkey has escalated its policy towards Syria in four stages: trying to persuade Assad to reform; cutting diplomatic ties; supporting regional and international political solutions; and, supporting and aiding Syria’s political and armed opposition. While advocating a fifth stage – direct military intervention against the Assad regime, such as a no-fly zone or humanitarian corridor – Turkey is unwilling to act unilaterally.
- Turkey has already received over 135,000 Syrian refugees, has been bombarded by Assad’s forces and fears the use of chemical weapons. Any further disintegration of the Syrian state could provide a launch pad for Turkish Kurdish separatists and might raise questions about Turkey’s own territorial integrity. Economic concerns have also been raised should the crisis spread into the key market of northern Iraq.
- Turkey has recently proposed talks with Russia, Iran, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to help resolve the Syria crisis. While unlikely to lead anywhere in the foreseeable future, such a multilateral process may be needed to help stabilize Syria and prevent state collapse if and when Assad eventually falls.
Christopher Phillips 
Why are the last nazi war criminals, like Alois Bruner, hiding in Syria? Nesselrode sent Porphy Uspensky to de-Hellenize the Antiochians which led to Michel Aflaq founding the Nazi Ba’ath party which is why ras-Putin hid Saddam’s WMD in Syria! Ohlig & Puim show Islamic extremism came from Syriac miaphysates, products of Chrysustolm trying to consummate the Channukah crimes of his Seleucid forefathers. (“Questioning is the subversion of faith” Homily I on I Timothy I- Such was the dark mind that led Justinian to abolish the universities and Olympics and bring on the plagues.) Ochrafuxy is the mother of Islam and bolshevism because they reject Aristotle in favor of Plato. We need a Christian Samaritania buffer state surrounding Israel. Just as we neutralized Greece during the Crimean and Cold wars, we need to give the Balkans back to the aboriginal Albanian Pelasgians to prevent soviet access to the straits. Iran and North Korea both share borders with Russia and are ras-Putin’s ploy to raise oil prices which is why we must fearlessly pursue the therminucular rapture against the magog’s attempt to destabilize the Saudis.