Just before the start of the New Year, Turkey and Syria began what is sure to be a long process of reconciliation. Using Russia as an intermediary, Syrian and Turkish defense and intelligence ministers met in Moscow on Dec. 28 to discuss refugees, counterterrorism, border security, and the overall state of the bilateral relationship. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a main proponent of the Syrian opposition and one of the first regional leaders to isolate Syrian dictator Bashar-Assad during the onset of the civil war in 2011, is now musing about an in-person summit with the strongman.
For the United States, positive ties between Turkey and Syria is both a curse and a blessing. On one hand, such a development would bolster Assad’s position, undermine Washington’s attempts to pressure him into a political settlement, and further accelerate Syria’s reintegration into the Middle East’s diplomatic architecture. Yet better ties also have the potential of limiting additional Turkish military assaults into Kurdish-controlled areas and enabling a smoother U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria—saving the U.S. from embarking on another indefinite, undefined military mission in the region.
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