Syria–Turkey relations
Turkey–Syria relations are the relations between the Republic of Türkiye and the Syrian Arab Republic. Turkey shares its longest common border with Syria; various geographic and historical links also tie the two neighbouring countries together.
The traditionally tense relations between Turkey and Syria had been due to disputes including the self annexation of the Hatay Province to Turkey in 1939, water disputes resulting from the Southeastern Anatolia Project, and Syria's support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the now-dissolved Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia which has been recognised as a terrorist organisation by NATO, the EU, and many other countries. Relations improved greatly after October 1998, when PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan was expelled by the Syrian authorities. However, the Syrian civil war once again strained relations between the two countries, leading to the suspension of diplomatic contact. A serious incident occurred with the Syrian downing of a Turkish military training flight in June 2012, resulting in Turkey calling an emergency meeting of NATO.
Syria had maintained an embassy in Ankara and two consulates–general in Istanbul and Gaziantep. Turkey has an embassy in Damascus. Diplomatic relations between the countries were severed in March 2012, due to the Syrian civil war. Turkey is a full member of the Union for the Mediterranean and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation while Syria's membership was suspended due to the civil war. After the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024, Turkey was regarded as the biggest winner of the changing situation. Ankara quickly restored diplomatic relations with the transitional government in Damascus.
History
Turkish rule pre-WWI
Turkish dynasties ruled Syria and the region starting with the Tulunids in the late 9th century, followed by the Ikhshidids, Seljuq Empire, Burid dynasty, Artuqids, and Zengids until the late 12th century. In 1516, Syria was annexed by the Ottoman Empire and was part of it until WWI in the early 20th century.Hatay annexation
In 1938, the Sanjak of Alexandretta became independent from the French mandate of Syria as the Republic of Hatay, and following a referendum, 8 months later in 1939, it decided to join Turkey as the Hatay Province. This self-annexation was never recognized by Syria, which continues to show the Hatay Province of Turkey as part of Syria's territory on maps.At present, Syrians hold the view that this land is historically Syrian and was illegally ceded in the late 1930s to Turkey by France – the mandatory occupying power of Syria. The Turks remember Syria as a former Ottoman vilayet. In 1938, the Turkish Army went into the former Syrian Mediterranean province with French approval and expelled most of its Alawite and Christian Arab and Armenian inhabitants. Before this, Arabs and Armenians were the majority of the provincial population. For the referendum, Turkey crossed tens of thousands of Turks into Alexandretta to vote.
In 1938, the province declared its independence from France and the following 29 June, the parliament of the newly declared Hatay Republic voted to join Turkey. This referendum has been labeled both "phoney" and "rigged", and that it was a way for the French to let Turks take over the area, hoping that they would turn on Hitler. Syrians still consider this land as integral Syrian territory. Syrians call this land Liwaaa aliskenderuna rather than the Turkish name of Hatay.
Water politics
have been a major source of conflict as Turkey has constructed several dams on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers as part of the Southeastern Anatolia Project- GAP to develop the region. The project GAP was aimed at reducing the harsh living conditions of the Southeastern provinces of Turkey by building 19 dams on the rivers of Euphrates and Tigris. This project, however, would seriously reduce Syrian water resources.Euphrates and Tigris are not the only rivers that tangle Turkish-Syrian relations. Water distribution of the Orantes River, which pours into the Mediterranean from the disputed province of Hatay, also causes problems between the two states.
Support to the PKK
Turkey has condemned Syria for supporting the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization internationally by a number of states and organizations, including the US, NATO, and the EU and has claimed that Syria employed Austrian former Schutzstaffel SS-Hauptsturmführer Alois Brunner to train Kurdish militants for attacks against Turkey.The two countries came to the brink of war when Turkey threatened military action if Syria continued to shelter Abdullah Öcalan in Damascus, his long-time safe haven. Relations have improved since October 1998, when Öcalan was expelled by Damascus and Syria pledged to stop harbouring the PKK militants and the 1999 signing of the Adana agreement, following his subsequent capture in Kenya, envisaged security cooperation between the two countries.
Helicopter downing
In October 1989, 2 Syrian MiG-21's flew into Turkish airspace where they shot down a Turkish aircraft. All five of the crew on the Turkish aircraft died.2003–2011 diplomatic thaw
In The New Turkey, BBC correspondent Chris Morris claims that Syria was "for years a bitter foe" as "Turkey's secular democracy, its application for EU membership and its close relationship with the United States have long been regarded in Tehran, Baghdad and Damascus with intense suspicion. Islamists look at the secular state which buried the caliphate and think 'betrayal'; and Arab nationalists still haven't forgotten that Turks are their former colonial rulers." "But there's been a thaw, especially since the AKP came to power," and "the new Turkish model – trying to mix greater democracy and Islam together – is now the subject of curiosity and not a little envy."The Turkish Parliament's refusal to cooperate militarily with the 2003 invasion of Iraq was a turning point in Syrian-Turkish bilateral relations as Syria's perceptions of Turkey as incapable of acting independently were altered.
The first ever visit to Turkey by a Syrian President was made by Bashar al-Assad to Ankara in January 2004. In late 2004, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan flew to Damascus to sign a free trade agreement, in the follow-up to former Turkish President Turgut Özal's high-level trade negotiations with Syrian authorities in the 1990s and Erdoğan's own recently successful bid to initiate a Turkish EU accession which would allow Europe, "to extend its reach to the borders Syria, Iraq and Iran." On 3 April 2007, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad attended the opening ceremony of the Aleppo International Stadium.
In 2005, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer went to visit Damascus, despite U.S. objections, during the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon.
In 2008, Turkey was, as a sign of mutual trust in Damascus and Jerusalem, invited to play the role of facilitator between Syria and Israel to solve their dispute over control over the Golan Heights, but these talks were abandoned after four rounds, which included a visit by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan at Bodrum in August, following the deterioration in Turkey-Israel relations over the 2008–2009 Israel-Gaza conflict.
Military cooperation
On 26 April 2009, the two states announced an "unprecedented" three-day military manoeuvre involving ground forces along their mutual border in what was described as "a step further in their ever-expanding cooperation." According to Turkish military sources, "The aim of the exercise is to boost friendship, cooperation, and confidence between the two countries land forces, and to increase the ability of border troops to train and work together." The exercise which commenced on 27 April involved teams from each country crossing the border to visit outposts.Visiting Syrian Defense Minister Hasan Turkmani and Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül also signed a letter of intent giving the green light for cooperation in the defence industry, on the sidelines of the 9th International Defence Industry Fair that commenced in Istanbul the same day, as a sign of the level of political relations reached between the two states, although a Turkish defence industry source emphasised that, "it does not mean that the two countries will immediately enter into cooperation in arms production."
2009 Turkish Presidential visit to Syria
Turkish President Gül's 15–17 May official visit to Syria was made at the invitation of Damascus in reciprocation of Syrian President Assad's 2007 official visit to Turkey. A senior Turkish diplomat confirmed that, "The main topic on the agenda and the goal of the visit is the maintenance of momentum that has built up in bilateral relations within the last decade." The Turkish delegation included Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Çağlayan, Agriculture Minister and Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay.Shortly before the visit new Syrian Ambassador to Turkey, Nidal Qablan confirmed that Syria was ready to restart the Turkish mediated peace negotiations with Israel and Gül supported the call, following his meeting with Assad, stating that, "We have heard Syria say it is ready to resume the peace talks from the point where they stopped with the previous government. We in Turkey are also ready." Assad confirmed, "Turkey's role is important because we have trust in Turkey." Israeli President Shimon Peres dismissed these calls stating, "The Syrians should be ready to talk. If President al-Assad wants peace, why is he shy? We suggested direct talks many times. He thinks direct talks are a prize for Israel. It's not a prize. It's normal."