The effect of hezbollah on Turkey-Lebanon relations during the Syrian civil war

Lebanon-Turkey relations are not independent of regional developments. In this context, the civil war of Syria, which is an influential regional actor in Lebanon's domestic and foreign policy, after the 2011 Arab Spring has affected Lebanon in many ways. The different attitudes of different political and sectarian actors in Lebanon towards the civil war in Syria also affected the foreign policy of the country. The Hezbollah Movement, Lebanon's leading sectarian, political and military group, supported the Damascus Administration in the Syrian Civil War with rhetoric and actions, and on the other hand, Turkey took a stance on the opposition against the Damascus Administration in Syria. In this thesis, it was investigated whether the Hezbollah Movement's involvement in armed conflicts as a non-state actor in Syria, while a political actor in Lebanon, affected Turkey-Lebanon relations. The time limit of this thesis is the process that started with the uprisings in Syria and continues until today. In this context, the attitude of the Lebanese Hezbollah, which provides military and verbal support to the Bashar Assad Administration in Syrian territory, towards Turkey, which is in close relations with the opposition fighting against the Damascus Administration, has been investigated and it has been tried to determine whether this attitude has an effect on Turkey-Lebanon interstate relations, and if so, in which areas. The finding of the study is that Hezbollah's presence in Syria does not significantly affect Turkey-Lebanon relations. The reason for this is that Hezbollah takes a position in Syria not as a state actor but as a non-state actor, and there are internal balances in Lebanon that are disturbed by Hezbollah's support for the Damascus Administration.