The Kurdish dilemmas facing Erdogan

Nine months after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's crushing defeat in Turkish municipal elections, one of the worst blows he has suffered in his 22 years of rule, the fall of Assad came as a gift, making Ankara the most powerful foreign actor in the region.

"Erdogan is in a much better place now than at the end of March when he had conceded a bitter loss to the opposition in the municipal elections. Definitely he reclaimed the initiative and now has it," said policy analyst Aydin Selcen.

According to Gallia Lindenstrauss, senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), an independent think tank affiliated with Tel Aviv University, Syria has created a positive dynamic for Turkish foreign policy and placed Turkey in a position of strength vis-a-vis various actors in the international arena.

"If Ankara plays its cards right, this...