AKP Hükümetinin Suriye Dış Politikasının 2011 Arap Baharı Sonrası Değişimi
The Change of AKP Government’s Foreign Policy towards Syria after 2011 Arab Spring

Summary/Abstract: There are social, cultural and religious relations between Turkish Republic and Syria Arab Republic. It’s because of this that the Turkey-Syria relations’ roots go back to Ottoman Empire. The relations have been going on during a long history became strained after Hatay’s being a province of Turkey while it used to be Syria’s province till 1939. These strained relations have been on stage with some problems such as PKK’s training camps in Syria, the Euphrates River’s water, smugglers…etc till 2002. These relations transformed into a new phase with Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) (with an Islamic identity) coming to rule Turkey in 2002. In the first years of AKP, these relations became so good that Turkey and Syria organized a council of ministers cabinet together. That time’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed Esad as “my brother” and it was planned to remove the borders between the countries. In 2011 a resistance movement as a result of Arab Spring started in Syria and at this point AKP changed its politics sharply by supporting opponents. This sharp u turn policy based on the assumption that opponents will win within three months disappointed international community. In this study AKP’s foreign policy for Syria will be examined by focusing on the problems between the countries. Additional to this, the effects of Arab Spring on Turkey-Syria relations will be evaluated. Key word: Turkey, Syria, Arab Spring, Foreign Policy, Esad.

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