Pool photo by Adem Altan
Syrian refugees living inside the Altinozu refugee camp near Hatay, Turkey, on Tuesday.
ISTANBUL — As the war in Syria rages next door, Turks have grown increasingly weary of nearly daily reports of troubles at home: Iranian spies working with Kurdish insurgents, soldiers ambushed and killed, millions spent caring for a flood of refugees, lost trade and havoc in border villages.
"This is how we start our morning," Mehment Krasuleymanoglu, a bookseller in a narrow alley in central Istanbul, said recently as he laid out several newspapers, each with a blaring headline about an explosion at a munitions depot that killed more than two dozen soldiers. The government called it an accident, but in the current environment, many Turks, including Mr. Krasuleymanoglu, are not so sure.
"What do we have to do with Syria?" he said. "The prime minister and his wife used to go there for tea and coffee."
The Turkish government is facing a spasm of reproach from its own people over its policy of supporting Syria's uprising; hosting fighters in the south, opposition figures in Istanbul and refugees on the border; and helping to ferry arms to the opposition. While many Turks at first supported the policy as a stand for democracy and change, many now believe that it is leading to instability at home, undermining Turkey's own economy and security.
Turkey's call for military intervention, which much of the international community opposes, has only added to the domestic frustration. Now, in the wake of the anti-American protests that have convulsed the Muslim world in reaction to a film that denigrated Islam, it seems less likely that Turkey will find partners in the West to join its call for military action in Syria.
The souring mood presents the first obvious setback for the foreign policy of Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has ridden the turmoil of the Arab Spring to promote Turkey's influence abroad and his standing at home.
Suddenly, Turkey appears vulnerable on multiple fronts.
"A lot of Turks are seeing this as a direct result of Turkey's aggressive posture against Assad," said Soner Cagaptay, the director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, referring to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.
In the face of criticism from columnists and opposition politicians, and signs of rising public opposition to its Syria policy, the country is being compelled to reassess its overall strategy for spreading its influence and interests across the Middle East, including Egypt, Iraq and Iran. Increasingly frustrated with its efforts to join the European Union, Turkey turned noticeably toward regaining and elevating its standing in the Muslim world, especially amid the chaos and reordering of alliances caused by the Arab Spring.
"Turkey's Syria policy has failed," wrote Dogan Heper, a columnist for the newspaper Milliyet. "It has turned our neighbors into enemies. We have been left alone in the world."
Selcuk Unal, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, acknowledged that the Syria policy had become a domestic policy issue. Even though it may not be popular, he said, "that doesn't mean it is wrong."
"I don't think we are wrong so far," Mr. Unal said. "Turkey is on the right side of history on this."
Before the Arab uprisings, economic and political engagement with Syria was a centerpiece of Turkey's regional strategy, which some described as an effort to integrate the Middle East along the lines of the European Union. Visa restrictions were lifted and trade increased. Mr. Erdogan and Mr. Assad even vacationed together. Initially, Turkey urged dialogue and reform in Syria, but as the killing increased, Turkey turned against the government.
That shift was part of its broader regional strategy. Last year Prime Minister Erdogan toured Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, offering Turkey's support for the democratic aspirations of the Arab world's revolutionaries, and holding up Turkey's mix of Islam, democracy and economic prosperity as an inspiration for those countries in turmoil.
Turkey, it seemed, was ascendant, and the public was largely supportive.
"We loved it," said Soli Ozel, an academic and columnist. "It was like, we're back. The empire is back."
Perhaps causing the greatest unease for Turks these days is an increase in violence by Turkey's separatist Kurdistan Workers Party, or P.K.K., which seems emboldened by the success of Syria's Kurds in gaining territory. The P.K.K. has waged an insurgency against Turkey since the 1980s in a conflict that has claimed an estimated 40,000 lives. More than 700 people have died in the past 14 months, the deadliest level in 13 years, according to a report published last week by the International Crisis Group. The P.K.K. has now set up daylight checkpoints in villages in the southeast, carried out deadly ambushes against Turkish forces and kidnapped lawmakers. Recently, the Turkish military carried out an offensive involving F-16 fighter jets and 2,000 soldiers, Reuters reported.
By STEVEN LEE MYERS 19 Sep, 2012
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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/world/europe/turks-weary-of-leaders-support-for-syria-uprising.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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