Elektronik Siyaset Bilimi Araştırmaları Dergisi Ocak 2021 Cilt: 12 Sayı:1 Die Elektronische Zeitschrift für politikwissenschaftliche Studien Januar 2021 Vol: 12 Num:1 Electronic Journal of Political Science Studies January 2021 Vol: 12 No:1 Elektronik Siyaset Bilimi Araştırmaları Dergisi Ocak 2021 Cilt:12 Sayı:1 The Syrian Crisis: A Protracted Social Conflict? Emirhan KAYA * Abstract Since the Syrian conflict has been going on for over ten years, it is often stated that the civil war in that country became protracted or intractable. In addition, the emphasis on the sectarian dimension of the conflict draws attention to the social and religious structure of the Syrian population. In spite of these characteristics of the conflict, the Syrian civil war has been rarely associated with Edward Azar’s theory of protracted social conflict (PSC). This paper tries to explain the Syrian civil war with the theory of PSC that presents a multi-dimensional approach. Thus, it is argued that a crisis of legitimacy that stems from socio-economic and sectarian imbalances triggered the civil war in Syria. Keywords: Syria, Civil War, Protracted Social Conflict, Edward Azar’s Theory Suriye Krizi: Müzminleşmiş Bir Toplumsal Çatışma mı? Özet On yıldan fazla süredir devam eden Suriye çatışması nedeniyle bu ülkedeki iç savaşın müzminleştiği ya da kör döğüşü haline geldiği sıklıkla dile getirilmektedir. Ayrıca çatışmanın mezhepsel boyutuna yapılan vurgu, Suriye nüfusunun toplumsal ve dini yapısını öne çıkarmaktadır. Çatışmanın bu özelliklerine rağmen, Suriye iç savaşı Edward Azar’ın müzminleşmiş toplumsal çatışma teorisiyle nadiren ilişkilendirilmiştir. Bu makale, Suriye iç savaşını çok boyutlu bir yaklaşım sunan müzminleşmiş toplumsal çatışma teorisi yardımıyla açıklamaya çalışmaktadır. Bu çözümlemede, sosyo-ekonomik ve mezhepsel dengesizliklerden kaynaklanan bir meşruiyet krizinin Suriye’deki iç savaşı tetiklediği savunulmaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Suriye, İç Savaş, Müzminleşmiş Toplumsal Çatışma, Edward Azar’ın Kuramı Introduction The failure or reluctance of the Bashar al-Assad regime to meet the demands of Syrian protesters in the initial phase of the Arab Spring led to the outbreak of a civil war in Syria. Although the conflict did not result in a regime change like in Egypt or Libya, the long duration of the war undermined hopes of breaking the deadlock in favour of either side. Besides, the civil war in which the military and the opposition forces suffered thousands of casulties then turned into an international crisis involving several regional and global actors. Currently, by many observers, the ongoing conflict is described as a proxy war between these actors. In addition to the external balances, the delay in finding a compromise solution to the crisis is closely related to Syria's social, cultural and political structure. In this context, the sectarian dimension of Syrian politics in general and that of the civil war in particular draws attention to the ethnic and religious dynamics of the current crisis. This paper aims to examine the role of sectarianism in the Syrian civil war in order to understand why it has become so prolonged and intractable. The civil war will be analysed by * Dr., Research Assistant, Department of International Relations, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Trakya University, E-mail: emirhankaya@trakya.edu.tr