Turkey’s Border Security Policy Against Non-State Actors (2016-2019)

Abstract

This paper aims to explain Turkey's border security policy in dealing with non-state actors in Northern Syria. Turkey's policy was carried out after five years of involvement in the Syrian crisis and one month after a failed coup attempt. This study uses the theory of securitization by Buzan that explains the existence of threat and vulnerability factors faced by the state in anarchic international structures. The research method used in this study is a qualitative method with the type of causality analysis. This paper found that threats and vulnerabilities pushed Turkey to launch a series of military operations as border security policies to rid North Syria of ISIS and PKK/PYD/YPG militias to control the adverse effects caused by the presence of non-state actors such as civilian and military casualties, property damage, as well as instability and disintegration. The border security policy confirms the increasingly important role of Turkey in the region while demonstrating Turkey's consistency in pursuing national security interests even outside its territory