Turkey’s Syria Policy: The Challenge of Coalition Building

Turkey was in the international spotlight over the Syrian uprising. So far, it had focused largely on the humanitarian situation taking a moral high ground on the civilians trapped by the conflict. Either due to its own ambitious rhetoric or the preferences of other regional and international actors, Turkey was expected in some circles to lead international efforts to end the actions perpetrated by the Baath regime. If necessary, this included the use of force. Following the failure of the Arab League’s peace plan at the UN Security Council, Turkey had vowed to mobilize a coalition of like-minded states to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis. This effort epitomized the limited but crucial role Turkey could play here: facilitating a coalition at the regional-global nexus, so that a coercive diplomatic solution short of military intervention was forged.