Turkey‟s relations with Syria in the context of the Kurdish issue: 1980-2014 /

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2014
Öztürk, Abdullah
This study analyzes Turkey's relations with Syria in the context of the Kurdish issue concentrating on the period between 1980 and 2014. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that one of the main determinant factors behind Turkey's foreign policy towards Syria was the Kurdish issue in the covered period. In this regard, the study will seek to answer the questions such as how the PKK had an impact on Turkey's relations with Syria in the 1980s and 1990s. Then, the thesis will also seek to show that Syria's tough stance against the PKK and Turkey's departure from the security-based foreign policy yielded on having good relations between the two countries in 2000s. At the end, the fourth chapter of this study discussed Turkey's foreign policy towards Syria in the aftermath of the uprisings which began in March 2011. Afterwards, firstly, the thesis will focus on Turkey's relations with the PYD and Syrian opposition movements before and after the establishment of a Kurdish autonomous administration in Rojava. Then, Turkey's Rojava policy is discussed in detail.

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Citation Formats
A. Öztürk, “Turkey‟s relations with Syria in the context of the Kurdish issue: 1980-2014 /,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2014.