Prompted by FinancialTimes article; The Syrian Rebels' new weapon: the Turkish Lira

Trade with Turkey will be anchored to the same monetary system. Uncertainty regarding the pound will be lifted and trade will function similarly to how it works in a monetary union like the EU.

It's like you're trying to sell the idea ;-)

However, one question that burns me :

and thus provide a boost to Syria's export competitiveness.

Do syria still export anything with the war going on ? I mean, i had the impression the gov is massively importing everything using borrowed wartime loans from Iran/Russia & overprinting the rest (hence the ultra inflation) ??!?

If we're to give the example of Eastern Ukraine, where pensions and certain government employees continued, until recently, to be paid for by the government even in occupied areas, the "foot in every corner of Syria" strategy can be dismantled economically.

Actually in ukraine it's the exact inverse : The gov DOES NOT want to fund the russian invasion (because, let's face it, any money sent there is intercepted & ceased by the invaders), and Russia obviously want the gov to more or less fund their occupation army for them in donbass.

but anyone whose loyalty in rebel-held territory is being bought by the government with Syrian pounds will have no reason to stay on board with Assad given that their neighbors will not be accepting Syrian Pounds for payment, or will take it for low value

Don't bet on it, they'll just get more and exchange it for usable currency either way. De facto, they're not going to refuse "free" money, even low amounts.

All of this sounds good and jolly, but there will have to be a strategically-organized transitional phase in which rebels and traders begin to acquire enough Turkish Liras first before making the switch over, given that they cannot fire up the printing press to get themselves started.

basically, you're asking for Erdogan or the CIA to start watering the area liberally with Turkish Liras.

This won't be much different than using the Syrian pound though, as the Syrian Arab Republic is basically another country at this point anyways

Apart the bit where somebody will have to buy crazy amounts of liras just to give them away, basically. Do you have a specific generous benefactor in mind with more money than sense ?

/r/syriancivilwar Thread