The Responsibility to Protect Policy of Turkey during the Syrian Crisis (2011-2015)

Year 2019, Volume: 11 Issue: 21, 155 - 199, 25.11.2019

Sevilay Zehra Aksoy Seray Kılıç

https://doi.org/10.35705/bs.751771

Abstract

The Syrian civil war, which has been going on for more than eight years, gave rise to an unprecedented humanitarian crisis within both Syria and be- yond. The human tragedy that unfolded is a stark reminder of the unfulfilled responsibilities of the international community as embodied in the principle of the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP). RtoP, involving both prevention and coercive tools, impose different kinds of obligations on different actors of the international community. Among state actors of the international community, close neighbours are critical players in the sense that they are the ones that are likely to be the most negatively affected by the conflict beyond their borders and thus are expected to have the greatest will, if not always the capacity, to effect the course of events. This paper seeks to examine how RtoP found expression in the foreign policy of Turkey that shares its longest border with Syria. Together with other neighbouring countries that host millions of refu- gees, Turkey, which also experienced serious security problems in its borders, stood as one of the most affected countries by this crisis and kept RtoP on its agenda both for instrumental and normative reasons for a long time. The aim of this study is to examine how RtoP in general and its preventive and coer- cive pillars in particular came to be understood and what concrete steps were taken to breathe life into them by the officials in Ankara. In pursuit of this aim, the policies from the beginning of the crisis (2011) till the period when national security discourse gained priority over protection discourse (2015) are analysed through official rhetoric and practices.

Keywords

Responsibility to Protect, Turkish Foreign Policy, Syrian civil war

Türkiye’nin Suriye Krizindeki Koruma Sorumluluğu Politikası (2011-2015)

Abstract

Sekiz yılı aşkın bir süredir devam etmekte olan Suriye iç savaşı, Suriye’nin içinde ve ötesinde benzeri olmayan bir insani krize yol açmıştır. Ortaya çıkan insan trajedisi, Koruma Sorumluluğu (KS) prensibinde yer almasına rağmen uluslararası toplumun yerine getirmemiş olduğu sorumlulukları bariz şekilde gözler önüne sermektedir. Hem önleyici hem de zorlayıcı araçları içeren KS, uluslararası toplumun farklı aktörlerine farklı sorumluluklar yüklemektedir. Bu bağlamda uluslararası toplumun devlet aktörleri arasında yakın komşular kritik oyuncular olarak özel yere sahiptir. Şöyle ki, sınırlarının ötesindeki çatışmalardan en fazla negatif olarak etkilenen ve dolayısıyla olayların gidişatını etkilemek için, her zaman gerekli kapasiteye sahip olmasalar da, en çok siyasi irade göstermesi beklenen aktörler yakın komşulardır. Bu çalışma, Suriye ile en uzun sınırını paylaşan Türkiye’nin dış politikasında KS’nin nasıl ifade edildiğini ve hayata geçirildiğini incelemeye çalışmaktadır. Milyonlar- ca göçmene ev sahipliği yapan diğer komşularla birlikte Türkiye, aynı za- manda sınırlarında ciddi güvenlik sorunları yaşamış bir ülke olarak bu kriz- den en çok etkilenen devletlerden biridir ve KS’yi hem araçsal hem de nor- matif sebeplerle gündeminde uzun süre tutmuştur. Bu çalışma genel olarak KS prensibinin ve özelde de önleyici ve zorlayıcı sütunlarının Ankara’daki yetkililer tarafından nasıl anlaşıldığını ve onları hayata geçirmek için hangi somut adımları attıklarını incelemektedir. Bu amaca yönelik olarak, kri- zin başlangıcı olan 2011’den ulusal güvenlik söyleminin koruma söylemine üstünlük sağlamaya başladığı 2015’e kadarki politikalar resmi söylemler ve pratikler üzerinden analiz edilmektedir.

Keywords

Koruma Sorumluluğu, Türk Dış Politikası, Suriye iç savaşı, İnsani kriz, Göç

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