Turkey is piling pressure on Syria with border military exercises, economic sanctions and the harbouring of Syrian opposition groups and army defectors.Turkey has shifted, in the space of six months, from being Syria’s new best friend to a centre of gravity for opposition to President Bashar Assad outside the country.Having started out by advising Assad to exercise restraint and make reforms when pro-democracy unrest first erupted in March, Turkey is now on the verge of invoking sanctions against Syria.
Turkey has given sanctuary to the most senior Syrian military officer to defect, while this week it began manoeuvres in a province over which Syria has had longstanding claims.“Turkey is clearly taking sides now,” said CengizAktar, professor at Istanbul’s Bahcesehir University. “Turkey expects this opposition and the upheaval in the country will eventually finish the job and the revolution will bring an end to the regime.”