Bullying Turkey through the proxy of regime forces and PYD militants won't make Ankara adopt an isolationist stance either. Integrating 3 million Sunni Arabs, after all, will only strengthen Turkey's ties with the Middle East.

Western actors especially should consider revising their positions on Syria and the refugee crisis before exerting pressure on Ankara, which has already taken in 2.7 million refugees and spent $9 billion for their care.

The words "We ask God to rescue us from this suffering. I'm 53 years old and have seen enough.

Muhittin Ataman: “Turkey is trying to recover and restructure its priorities in the Syrian crisis. For the first two years, it was the fall of the Asad regime, but now it is to prevent PYD from controlling the entire Turkish-Syrian border. This is a red line for Turkey.”

The PKK's new strategic discourse in its fight against the state is determined by the HDP's leadership which has recently brought up the ‘self-governance' debate. In this way, the HDP's organic connection with the PKK has been proven with the party's own hand.

The HDP made significant progress in the political arena, but it must keep in mind that a toxic mix of violence and cross-national alliances will not secure legal status for their voters.

Over the next decade, Turkey will have no choice but to deal with the consequences of the PYD's potential rise to power in northern Syria. As such, it is simply unrealistic to expect Turkey to negotiate with the PKK at this time.

Civil wars in Syria and Iraq are reshaping the Middle East, followed by issue-based alliances, thinking ahead and working on multiple scenarios.

The fact that regional powers have been able to create a modest framework alone deserves some credit. They could, after all, help develop an Islamic language to discredit radical groups' terrorist agendas.

Russia's close relation with the PYD concerns both Ankara and Washington. While Ankara is concerned about weapons that the PKK could obtain, the U.S. does not want the PYD to be included under Russia's influence in the region.

The growing power of the PKK and the PYD in northern Syria will remain a source of tensions between Turkey and the U.S. until Washington starts to understand what exactly concerns Ankara

The political and economic foundations of New Turkey are not crumbling; in fact they have proved resilient and continue to withstand multiple challenges. The social fabric proved resistant against divisive political rhetoric and provocative calls for mass revolts against the public order.

Taking in consideration the geographical position of Turkey and the number of refugees that reside in Turkey, security faces many difficulties, but this does not undermine the hard work of the government.

"The Syrian Crisis After the Russian Intervention," panel organized on Monday by the Ankara-based think tank Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA).