The security and humanitarian situation in Syria is deteriorating to unprecedented levels.<\/p>\n
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR has warned that meteorologists are predicting the harshest winter in a century in the region.<\/p>\n
After the recent seizure of warehouses at Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Turkish border by the Saudi-backed Islamic Front, the US and Britain both have suspended all non-lethal aid to Syrian rebels.\u00a0 Non-lethal aid includes cash, communications equipment, military vehicles and medical supplies, delivered through Turkey. \u00a0Humanitarian aid distributed through the United Nations and other aid organisations will continue to be delivered.<\/p>\n
Capture of dozens of anti-aircraft weapons and anti-tank rockets by the Islamic Front, which is made up of six radical groups fighting in Syria, is a worrying development for Turkey.<\/p>\n
Turkish authorities have closed the Cilveg\u00f6z\u00fc border crossing with Syria where al Qaeda-backed Islamist militants now dominate the war with the Assad forces.<\/p>\n
In another worrying development on Tuesday, masked gunmen kidnapped a prominent Syrian opposition activist and human rights lawyer Razan Zaitouneh, along with her husband and two fellow activists in a suburb of Damascus under rebel control.<\/p>\n
On the same day, it was revealed that two Spanish journalists, an El Mundo reporter Javier Espinosa and a freelance photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova were being held by a jihadist group.<\/p>\n
Attacks on journalists have reached chilling numbers. The Committee to Protect Journalists describes the Syria crisis as the “most dangerous conflict in the world for reporters.”<\/p>\n
There are approximately 30 journalists missing in Syria, with at least seven kidnappings in the past two months alone.<\/p>\n
13 international organisations signed a joint letter to the Syrian armed groups about hostility against journalists, demanding their release.<\/p>\n
It is not altogether surprising that the violence increased in recent days. As we approach the Geneva II meeting scheduled to take place in January 2014, both the Assad forces and rebel fighters are trying to maximise their gains.<\/p>\n
The growing strength of Islamist groups within Syria\u2019s opposition should be worrying enough for all countries but especially for Turkey.<\/p>\n
There are now more foreign fighters in Syria than any previous conflict, with an estimated 5000 foreign nationals present in the country.<\/p>\n
According to Dr Thomas Hegghammer from the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, there are at least 1200 volunteers from European countries fighting alongside extremist groups in Syria, the highest numbers going from Bosnia. Speaking at a House of Commons seminar last month, Dr Hegghammer warned against returning fighters carrying militancy back home.<\/p>\n
That is a serious risk for Turkey, too.<\/p>\n
Mainly as a result of the pressure from the USA, but also because of an increasingly obvious security threat, Turkey has modified its approach to jihadist groups in Syria but it may be already too late.<\/p>\n
On the 7th<\/sup>\u00a0 of December, BBC’s Richard Galpin reported that foreign jihadist fighters were\u00a0 using safe houses in Reyhanli, in southern Turkey to cross into Syria and that more than 150 people stayed at these houses in the past 90 days. http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-middle-east-25274886<\/a><\/p>\n More than 1000 days since the start of the conflict, with violence increasing and the stream of Syrian refugees to neighboring countries showing no sign of abating, it has become clear that the outside world needs to take stock of its policy on the Syrian crisis.<\/p>\n There is a growing consensus that the mounting crisis in Syria demands a more strategic approach by all outside actors, including Turkey.<\/p>\n