Northern Syria Security Dynamics and the Refugee Crisis Getty/Delil Souleiman/AFP
A boy watches a Turkish military convoy drive past a Syrian village on the outskirts of Tal Abyad along the border with Turkey, September 2019.
Sam Hananel
Introduction and summary
The Syrian conflict, now entering its second decade, has cost more than 500,000 lives and forced 13 million Syrian civilians to flee their homes more than half the prewar population including 6.6 million who are refugees outside the country.
1 This profound humanitarian crisis also threatens the stability of Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. Moreover, the out-migration has contributed to the growth of right-wing populism across Europe and severely affected the project of European unity.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan s foreign policy rethink
Turkey is largely isolated in the Middle East. Partners are few and far between. Its closest ally, Qatar, has just made peace with its neighbours. Together with the change of power in the USA, this is forcing Ankara to rethink. Background by Kersten Knipp A good omen for the stability of the entire region : this is how German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas described the outcome of the talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara on Monday. Cavusoglu also expressed his satisfaction. The talks took place in a positive atmosphere , he said.