Turkey Should Reset Syria Policy by Adopting Constructive Approach

Istanbul Policy Center director Fuat Keyman said that Turkey must avoid being dragged into a sectarian standoff in Syria and the wider region.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Turkish government should take a more productive approach toward Syria and reboot its policy, Istanbul Policy Center director Fuat Keyman said on Tuesday.

"Ankara should reset its Syria policy by combining its unavoidable status as a buffer state with the proactive and constructive foreign policy it adopted from 2002 to 2010," Keyman stated in an article for the Center for American Progress.

The Western approach which requires relying on Turkey to contain the spillover effects of the conflicts in Syria and Iraq has been wearing out, the expert added.

Keyman argued that Ankara should not be contained with the role of a buffer but rather seek ways to shape outcomes of the crisis.

He explained that the period of Turkey’s constructive foreign policy prior to 2010 was characterized by "mediation, humanitarianism, and the promotion of economic and cultural interdependence."

"Turkey must avoid being dragged into a sectarian standoff in Syria and the wider region," Keyman said.

For months, Turkey's southern districts have been subjected to shelling from the territories in Syria occupied by the Islamic State (IS) militants. Turkish troops deployed in the vicinity of the country's border with Syria retaliate by shelling the targets of the IS, a group which is outlawed in a number of countries, including Russia.