By Taylor Luck

AMMAN – As Arab and Turkish foreign ministers gathered in Rabat on Wednesday to discuss the Syrian crisis, the meeting posed diplomatic crossroads for Jordan, according to analysts.

Amman is weighing a host of domestic concerns and international commitments as it stakes out its official position on Syria, with the full knowledge that any efforts to ratchet up pressure on its northern neighbour will be felt within Jordan’s borders and beyond.

‘Point of no return’

For months Jordan has kept a “low profile”, conservative approach to the brewing crisis across its borders, attempting to maintain an open dialogue with Damascus while discouraging ongoing violence against civilians, according to observers.

The continued military crackdown combined with the failure of the Assad regime to abide by the Arab League initiative has forced Arab states, including Jordan, to take a tougher stance on Syria, says Marwan Muasher, former foreign minister and current vice president at the Carnegie Endowment for International Studies.

“There is an Arab consensus that the regime is no longer responsive and the continuing targeting of its own population is unacceptable,” Muasher said.

“Jordan has long taken a pragmatic approach, but Syria stopped listening,” said Maher Abu Teir, Ad Dustour columnist and political observer.

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Note by the editor: Jordan is expecting more Syrian refugees. We learned from private sources that Jordanians are inviting their Syrian relatives to come and stay with them, expecting a deterioration of the security situation, as a real civil war is taking shape (defecting soldiers fighting against the army).