A Briefing on the Turkish-Syrian Border Crisis

Speakers

• Özgür Ünlühisarcıklı, Director, Ankara office, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
• Haldun Yalçınkaya, Director, Department of Political Science and International Relations, TOBB University of Economics and Technology
• Şaban Kardaş, Associate Professor of International Relations, TOBB University of Economics and Technology

Moderator

• Jonathan D. Katz, Senior Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States

The German Marshall Fund of the United States and its Frontlines of Democracy Initiative invite you to a small group event focused on Turkey and the current Turkish military operation in northeastern Syria. This timely conversation is being hosted in conjunction with GMF’s Ankara office and its “On Turkey" series. Speaking from Ankara, the speakers will give the background, implications, and an update on the Turkish government’s incursion into Syria and the implementation of the Turkey-Russian agreement on northeast Syria. They will also focus on the domestic political and economic implications of the military operation for Turkey, and how they see the recent operation impacting Turkey’s relations and foreign policy direction in the region as well as with the United States, the European Union, and Russia. There is a growing chorus of concerns in Washington, Europe, and globally about Turkey’s military operation in Syria coupled with a U.S. pullout. The U.S. led operation in Syria resulting in the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has further magnified the uncertainty and challenges in the multisided Syrian conflict. This event will focus on the complicated issues driving President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and shaping Turkish opinion today.

GMF’s experts in Washington, Europe, and Turkey have weighed in heavily on many of these topics over the past two weeks, including via GMF’s "TTake 360: Repercussions from Turkey’s Intervention in Northeastern Syria" and the most recent GMF "Out of Order Podcast" on "The Situation in Syria: Dispatches from Washington and Ankara."