TURKEY’S POLITICAL STEPS AGAINST SYRIA CRISIS: DECISION ANALYSIS OVER A CASE STUDY

Abstract

In this study, the polyheuristic decision-making model is applied to a sample case and it is aimed to analyze how and why political leaders make decisions during a crisis. Analyzing all aspects of a decision made during a crisis is important in understanding how effective the solutions are. It is expected that an analysis of crisis and an investigation of the process from a wider perspective will be useful for better understanding of the Turkey’s reactions during the crisis when its RF-4E “Phantom” type air craft has been shot down in 2012. The reason of choosing this case study is the results of decisions taken duruing the crisis for Turkish foreign policy in the following periods. The article consists of the introduction part about the general overview of Turkish-Syrian relations, a part explaining the decision-making processes and decisions of political leaders as well as the polyheuristic decision-making model, a part with implementation of the model to the choosen case and a conclusion part. During the crisis Turkey has made decision to use military force by changing the rules of engagement and creating the positive perception in the international community. However, it was not contented with the decision to use military force alone. Turkey did not wait for the spontaneous reaction of the international community. Turkey has mobilized international forces like NATO. This means that two different decisions are made sequentially and quickly. Turkish political leaders have implemented the decisions in turn that had been choosen among the alternatives. It is expected that the study would contribute to the fi eld, improving researches on the decision-making processes with more comprehensive discussions in the future. Keywords: Syrian Crisis, Political Leadership, Polyheuristic Model.