Page 40 - Syrians in Türkiye - Special Report

GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF TÜRKİYE THE OMBUDSMAN INSTITUTION

DEVELOPMENTS IN THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC

AND TÜRKİYE’S APPROACH TO THE EMERGING

REFUGEE CRISIS

I. Developments in the Syrian Arab Republic after 2011 16

The wind of change, which first started in Tunisia and Egypt and was called the “Arab
Spring,” also deeply affected Syria at the beginning of 2011. The demonstrations
for longed-for rights and freedoms began in Daraa on March 16, 2011 and spread
throughout the country; as events got out of control, Syria found itself in a formidable
spiral of violence. 17

Calls from many countries including our own and international organizations to the
Syrian regime to listen to the demands of the people and begin democratic initiatives
in order to resolve the conflict in a peaceful way have not been accepted. Likewise,
the regime has been reluctant to apply a number of plans and roadmaps revealed both
at the regional and international level in order to resolve the conflict in a peaceful
18
way. During this period, in place of the Syrian Regime, which has lost its legitimacy
among its own people and the international society, the Syrian National Coalition was
recognized as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people by 114 countries and 13
international organizations at the fourth meeting of the Group of Friends of the Syrian
People that was held in Marrakech in December 2012. 19

As a result of the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons in their attacks against rural
areas of Damascus on August 21, 2013, more than 1,400 people, including women and
children, lost their lives, and over 5,000 people were wounded. In addition, a similar
chemical attack took place in Khan Shaykhun village in Idlib province on April 4,
2017. 20

16 In this chapter predominantly notes published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye,
available from http://www.mfa.gov.tr/sub.tr.mfa?79a4341a-366e-4b03-ad66-ca59dcfc86f7, and open-source
news has been used.
17 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, “Political Landscape of Syria” (accessed August 25,
2017); available from http://www.mfa.gov.tr/suriye-siyasi-gorunumu.tr.mfa.
18
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, “Political Landscape of Syria.”
19 ibid
20
ibid

40 SYRIANS IN TÜRKİYE SPECIAL REPORT