Salam Abdulla; Ranjdar Azeez
Abstract
Since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, the Kurdish issue has had a major impact on its foreign relations and has been a major threat to the country's national security. ...
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Since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, the Kurdish issue has had a major impact on its foreign relations and has been a major threat to the country's national security. As a consequence of emerging the Kurdish armed struggle during the years of 1980s, Turkey had in different ways made an effort to blockade this influence in its regional relations with neighboring countries, In a way that Turkey endeavored to utilize its important resources in favour of its security and national interests, in order to counter internal and external threats, from its geopolitical position to its water source.
Therefore, concerning its relations with Syria, despite the bordering issue, Alexandria province and the Kurdish issue, Turkey has worked to link its national security to Syria's water security, using the water card to put pressure on Syria to stop supporting and harboring the Kurdish armed movement, which has used its territory to attack the Turkish army and security objectives. This was based on the view that Syria needed water for agriculture, industry and drinking water and that it mainly depended on water from the Euphrates River, which flows through Turkey and then flows into Syria. Therefore, the Kurdish issue has influenced the political and water agreements and protocols between Turkey and Syria between 1987-1992 in terms of national security and water security of the two countries
