Why Turkey’s approach to Syria may again push it to sidelines
Diplomats fear that Ankara may have decided to play a reactive and obstructive role in the Syrian peace talks, rather than a positive and proactive one.
Turkish-supported Syrian opposition groups met in Ankara last week at the request of the Turkish government, reportedly to determine a common position prior to the Feb. 6 talks on Syria in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, and the talks to be held under UN auspices scheduled for Feb. 20 in Geneva.
Another aim of the Ankara meeting was to select members of the opposition to be sent to the Geneva talks. Staffan de Mistura, the UN’s special Syrian envoy, had called for these names to be furnished by Feb. 8, failing which he said he would select “as inclusive a delegation as possible.”
Ankara fears that the Syrian Kurds operating under the Democratic Union Party (PYD) may be given some form of representation in Geneva, and it is working hard to prevent this.
Western diplomats monitoring the Ankara meeting are suggesting that this gathering seems to have essentially been an exercise aimed at bolstering Turkey’s position in Syria.
