By Ferhat Pirincci
– The writer is a lecturer in international relations at Uludag University in Bursa, northwest Turkey
ISTANBUL (AA) – The Syrian crisis that erupted in 2011 has had serious knock-on effects outside the war-torn country’s borders, including the emergence of dangerous terrorist groups and the unprecedented refugee crisis now facing Europe.
Since the beginning of the conflict, Syria’s neighbors — Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan — have all struggled to cope with a host of challenges besides those posed by refugees and terrorist groups.
Syria’s neighbors have been affected by the crisis next door in different ways and to varying degrees.
– Turkey’s burden
The brunt of the Syrian refugee exodus has been borne by Turkey, which has tried to temper its reaction to the crisis with a degree of humanitarianism.
Turkish government institutions — including the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, the Turkish Red Crescent, and the ministries of health, education and interior — have tried to minimize the effects of the crisis, both for the refugees themselves and the local people living in the areas in which they have sought refuge.
Thanks to its past experience absorbing Palestinian refugees, Jordan has been able to develop a more systematic response to the crisis than Lebanon or Iraq.
Jordan’s response, however, has been different to that of Turkey in several ways.
Turkey has received minimal support from international relief organizations and donors and has had to use its own resources to meet the mounting financial burden associated with absorbing the refugee influx.
Jordan, on the other hand, has received significant help from international organizations and donors.
Of Syria’s neighbors, Iraq appears to have been the least affected by the refugee crisis.
But although Iraq is hosting relatively fewer Syrians, it must deal with its own problem of internally displaced people due to the ongoing political instability inside its own borders.
Lebanon, perhaps, has been the hardest hit by the refugee crisis. While its current precarious political situation prevents it from implementing a comprehensive immigration policy, its past experiences with Palestinian refugees has allowed it to develop a relatively better response to the crisis.
– Security
The Daesh terrorist group usually comes to mind when the Syrian crisis is evaluated in terms of its effect on Iraqi security.
Although Daesh is seen as being of Iraqi origin, the Syrian crisis was the main factor that led to the group’s emergence.
During the ongoing fight against Daesh, every political actor has tried to use the situation to its own advantage.
This has led to long-term instability in the region and the forceful displacement of many local people who were perceived as threats by whatever groups were controlling the area in question.
There are concerns in Iraq that the growing numbers of internally displaced people could lead to a state of long-term instability.
These mass displacements have had a political — as well as security — dimension, as they have led to the emergence of demographically homogenous cantons that could eventually lead to the disintegration of a single state of Iraq.
Jordan, meanwhile, from both a political and security standpoint, has been only slightly affected by the crisis.
This is largely due to the fact that Jordan — unlike most other states of the region — has not directly intervened in the conflict next door.
Notably, while Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey have all seen Syria-linked acts of terrorism on their soil, Jordan has not.
– Border fears
Meanwhile, would-be terrorists from around the world have attempted to enter Syria via Turkey or to move from Syria to countries that they wish to target.
Turkey has spent considerable resources to secure its border with the war-ravaged country, including the construction of barriers and stepped-up military deployments.
The most serious threat Turkey faces is the fact that some 400 kilometers of its 910-kilometer border with Syria is now adjacent to territory held by the YPG, the armed wing of the PYD (the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian affiliate).
Syria’s ongoing political and territorial disintegration could lead to a chain reaction that could — in the long term — eventually threaten Turkey’s own political and territorial integrity.
– Opinions expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Anadolu Agency’s editorial policy.
