Turkey-US Relations in the Context of the Syrian Crisis Discussed at TEPAV The TEPAV USA Center Director Dr. Bülent Alirıza stated that the escalating crisis in Syria might hinder US-Turkish relations.

ANKARA – The current state and future of the escalating Syrian crisis and potential impacts on the US-Turkish relations were assessed at TEPAV.

On September 11, 2012 Tuesday, a meeting titled “The Escalating Syrian Crisis and US-Turkish Relations” was held at TEPAV. The meeting moderated by Uğur Ziyal, Former Turkish Undersecretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Advisor to the President of TOBB, hosted Dr. Bülent Alirıza, The TEPAV USA Center Director and Turkey Project Founder and Director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The meeting was attended by representatives from the foreign mission in Turkey, the press, academia as well as politicians.

During his speech, Dr. Alirıza assessed Turkey’s position towards the Syrian crisis, diplomatic options ahead Turkey and possible scenarios on how the crisis in Syria will evolve. Referring to the attitude of Washington towards Syria, he commented on the potential impact of the process on US-Turkey relations.

Stressing that Turkey has been carrying the burden of the Syrian crisis and that the US was reluctant to take a more active position to relieve Turkey’s burden due to a number of reasons, Alirıza maintained that this could hinder Turkey-US relations that enhanced via the close coordination during the Arab Spring and ultimately even lead to a questioning of the efficacy of the Model Partnership, an idea Obama has been presenting since 2009.

Following Dr. Alirıza, Uğur Ziyal delivered closing remarks. The meeting ended after the questions and contributions of the audience.