Syria and Turkey
- Syrian-Turkish relations, at crisis point through much of the 1990s, have improved dramatically since Bashar al-Asad assumed power in 2000. His visit to Ankara in January 2004 was the first such visit since Syria broke away from Ottoman Turkey after World War I. This was followed in April 2005 by a visit by the Turkish president to Damascus. See ‘Turkey defies US with Syria visit’:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4440183.stm
- As recently as 1998, Turkey had threatened to invade Syria because Abdullah Ocalan - leader of the Marxist Kurdish Workers party (PKK), which was waging an insurgency against the Turkish government for greater Kurdish rights - was staying there. Some claim that Syria sheltered him as a lever against Turkey for its share of Euphrates waters and long-time claims over Hatay province (the Turkish name for Alexandretta province: see below). After being expelled from Syria, Ocalan fled to Europe and then Kenya, where he was apprehended by Turkish authorities in 1999. He was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment for treason and murder by a Turkish court.
- The tensions between the two countries can be traced back to French involvement in the region. The town historically known as Alexandretta (but now known as Iskenderun in Hatay province) is located in what was historically Syria, but what is now south-eastern Turkey. After WWI it formed part of the French Mandate territory, but in July 1939, much to the anger of the Syrians, France ceded the province of Alexandretta to Turkey, largely to secure Turkey's support in the forthcoming World War. Since then Syria has continued to claim the region as rightfully hers, and on some maps it is marked as occupied Syrian territory.
- Syria's loss of Alexandretta province led to the 'Turkification' of its remaining Arab inhabitants, as well as economic hardship. Aleppo, formerly one of the Mediterranean's prime trading centres, declined in importance as its route to the sea was cut off.
- For decades, Syria's relations with Turkey were characterised by bitterness over these border disputes, and the issue of water. The Euphrates river is one of Syria's prime sources of water and electricity. It flows from Turkey, through Syria, and from there to Iraq. Turkey's ability to control the river has created much worry in Damascus.
“With the building of the giant Southeast Anatolia Development Project, the Turkish government has gained an ability to control how much of the Euphrates waters flow into Syria (and beyond it to Iraq). That river had carried on average 850 cubic meters of water to Syria each second; in July 1987, Ankara committed to provide at least 500 cubic meters of water a second. On balance, it has fulfilled this obligation (that is to say, it makes up for any instances of dipping under the 500 cubic meters a second). Still, the Syrian government blames many of its electricity and agricultural problems on the Turkish dams. Those dams also constitute a new lever of power for Turkey, with major political implications. Simply put, Ankara can now threaten to withhold water from Syria, a prospect that Turkish politicians have on occasion publicly relished.” From:
http://www.meforum.org/article/pipes/276
The Turkish Embassy in Washington provides a detailed summary of water issues in the region:
http://www.turkishembassy.org/governmentpolitics/issueswater.htm
- Syrian claims to Hatay/Alexandretta province appear recently to have been put on the back-burner, and water disputes too have receded from the diplomatic agenda. The invasion and continued instability of Iraq is undoubtedly one of the reasons for this. Recently, the traditional enemies have united in seeking ways of preventing the Iraqi conflict from spreading rebellion amongst their own Kurdish populations.