Ankara: Turkey, with strong backing from its Arab and Western allies, very much wants Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to step down — but not just yet.
Under Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his post-Islamist ruling party Turkey has become the main organising hub for Syria's opposition — the 260-member liberal Syrian National Council, and the Free Syrian Army, comprising mainly Sunni army defectors.
But across the region and in Western capitals there are fears that Al Assad's opponents are not ready to take power, and that Syria's ethnic and sectarian mosaic could disintegrate and plunge the country of 22 million into chaos unless a way is found to smooth the transition.
"The key priority is for the opposition inside and outside [Syria] to come together, become a more credible option and include all sects and get their coordination right. Turkey is working on that," a senior Western diplomat said.
"What worries them is that if [Al] Assad went today there will be more chaos, more destruction and they don't know who will emerge and they want the opposition to be ready."
The main worry, Syria watchers say, is that what began nine months ago as a civic uprising is turning into a lethal sectarian conflict — especially as the predominantly Alawite rulers are whipping up the fears of Syria's minorities that they will be crushed by the country's Sunni majority.
