Examining the AKP’s military intervention and civil reconstruction policy in northwestern Syria from 2015 until 2024 through the lens of the Narrative Policy Framework

This study unravels how the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) justified its policy of military intervention and civil reconstruction in northwestern Syria within a politically restrictive context. Drawing on the ‘Narrative Policy Framework’ and using the content and discourse analysis of the AKP officials’ statements from 2015 until 2024, this study argues that the AKP’s narrative relied on mobilization and alliance formulation strategies around common national interests through the designation of pro-Partîya Karkeran Kurdistan (PKK) actions and Syrian refugees as security threats and the suggestion of military intervention and civil reconstruction for refugees’ resettlement in northwestern Syria as a solution. The AKP deployed both strategies within a polarized and a politically restrictive context to garner the army, opponents, and conservative businessmen’s support for its policy vis-à-vis Kurdish groups and pro-PKK militants, the US and Iran during implementation.