EGF Turkey File, 16 August — 31 August 2013

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics

16 August — 31 August 2013

By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• A chemical attack is allegedly launched in Damascus' suburbs, threatening to elicit a U.S. military response and possibly a wider regional war. Turkey backs the Americans, with Prime Minister Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul saying Bashar al-Assad must go.
• Kurdish fighters in northern Syria establish their own administrative areas in the country while continuing to fight jihadist elements of the Free Syrian Army. Their autonomy may be a flashpoint should Turkey be forced to make a ground incursion into Syria.
• Egypt's military-backed government continues to snipe back at the Turkish prime minister, who has emerged as its most vocal critic outside of Egypt.
• The poor relations between Ankara and Cairo may be costing Turkey influence and money with regional partners who supported the military putsch that unseated Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.