Evaluation of crisis periods on Turkey-Syria relations (1915-1998)

In this study the circumstance that lead to the crisis and war between Turkey and Syria are evolutated. Before the World War II, Hatay crisis, which occurred in 1936 with the participation of Turkey, affected the relationships of Turkey-France and Syria, which turned the situation into an international affair. Besides, in 1939 Turkey's annexation changed the relations between Turkey and Syria radically. While USSR demanded land from Turkey with the ideolgy of widening Communism, which caused Turkey to take part in the western World, the colonial idea of the U.S.A. and the U.K. over Syria and Egypt made these countries feel close to the Soviet regime. In addition to this, Syria was agahst Baghdad Organization and appointment of a Marxist general to the headof Syrian Ministry of Defense made Turkey believe that it was surrounded by communist countries. This led to the fact that Turkey put soldiers on its Syrian border, which caused 1957 Syrian crisis. It was later discussed in Un that turned it into an international affair. The moves of Turkish regional development and the Euphrates and Tigris with dams built, made Syria claim that those rivers were international sources and Syria had rights on them. This caused another regional affair. Syria, as it was weak both politically and in military ways, choose to weaken its neighbouring countries with terrorist attacks. In this context, Syria tried to take advantage in this context, Syria tried to take advantage at its neighbouring countries economically and politically by openly supporting various terrorist groups. This has led to other new crisi in the Middle East. Keywords: Syria, Turkey, International Relations, Middle East, Crisis