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Turkey's Syria dilemma

The deepening crisis in Syria should make Turkey consider how it will deal with near permanent chaos in its borders.
A rocket launcher is positioned at a military base on the Turkish-Syrian border town of Reyhanli, in Hatay province, southern Turkey September 5, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTX1388W

GENOA, Italy — At the German Marshall Fund’s Mediterranean Strategy Group, at a meeting held Nov. 20 to 22, participants shared their views on Mediterranean security issues under the Chatham House Rule, allowing them to express opinions openly without the risk of being quoted. In this light, here is a summary of how the Syrian crisis was discussed in terms of implications for a key stakeholder country like Turkey.

To begin with, participants disagreed over the US role in the region. While some considered its decision not to engage militarily in Syria a sign of disengagement from the Middle East, others argued that it is actually more engaged and active in the region than ever before — just in a different way. Still, there was more or less agreement over a lack of a clear Syrian policy at the White House, save for not engaging militarily in the country.

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