Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave the first signs last week that Ankara may be shifting the way it approaches the 19-month conflict after holding what local media called a "surprise meeting" with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Baku.
Ankara has proposed to Iran establishing a set of trilateral mechanisms involving key regional players to face the Syrian crisis raging at their doorsteps.
"This (trilateral) mechanism might involve Turkey, Egypt and Iran," Erdogan said. "A second mechanism could involve Turkey, Russia, Iran. A third could be made up of Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia."
"This represents a significant shift in position by Ankara," Semih Idiz wrote in the English-language Hurriyet Daily News. "It was no more than a few months ago that Ankara looked coolly on any discussion on Syria which involved Russia and Iran due to their unconditional backing of Syrian President Bashar Assad," he argued. Erdogan’s government, a one-time Assad ally, has burned bridges with Damascus after its deadly crackdown on popular dissent that erupted in March last year and has turned into a civil war.
Turkey has since then provided sanctuary for some 100,000 refugees fleeing the conflict, as well as the exiled Syrian rebel and political leadership, in camps along its volatile border.
At the same time Turkey’s Parliament has approved military action against Damascus "when deemed necessary," shortly after Syrian shells killed five Turks in a border town on Oct. 3. The Turkish military has beefed up border security with aircraft and tanks.
A Turkish Foreign Ministry official contacted by AFP said Turkey has never ruled out regional initiatives.
Turkey and Iran have diverging views on the Syrian crisis but recent weeks have seen an intensive diplomatic exchange between the two countries, resulting in both Ankara and Tehran’s backing a cease-fire plan floated by international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi during the Eid Al-Adha holiday starting this week.
Turkey is also talking to Russia despite a recent diplomatic row sparked after Ankara grounded a Syria-bound plane en route from Moscow to Damascus on suspicion that it had military cargo.
Turkey has not yet said what exactly the suspect cargo contained, but both countries have preferred to downplay the incident, and denied there was a crisis in their trade-based relationship.
It is however hard to predict if Turkey’s new overtures, interpreted by some observers as a change in Turkish foreign policy options, will have any chance of success as long as Russia and Iran cling to their support for Assad’s regime. Yet Turkey finds itself grasping for support over the Syria crisis, amid criticism that the Western powers are not doing enough to stop the bloodshed.
A new initiative to build cooperation with key regional players may be Turkey’s way of mending fences with its neighbors over Syria.
"I think Turkey’s leaders are rediscovering the idea of having zero problems with neighbors," a Western diplomat, familiar with Ankara’s efforts, told AFP.
"Turks have come to the conclusion that they need to do something as regards Russia and Iran. They have realized Turkey is not alone and even if it were a super power, Turkey has to have friends.”
