This is how we 'took' Syria!..

Trump revealed that 5 months after the Assad regime in Syria was toppled and HTS leader Jolani/Shara was brought to power, the following dialogue took place between him and Erdoğan:

Trump: "Congratulations, you did what no one else has been able to do for 2,000 years. You took Syria. Under different names, but it's the same thing."

Erdoğan: "No, it wasn't us."

Trump: "I know, it was you."

Erdoğan: "Yes, perhaps it was us."

While Trump said these things and there has been no denial from Ankara, colonial governor Tom Barrack told a completely different story last month.

Barrack claimed that Trump asked Erdoğan, "Why didn't you take Syria directly on December 8? If you played such a key role in helping them, why didn't you just take it and incorporate it into your administration?" and that Erdoğan replied, "Because we don't want that. We want Syria to be a sovereign and independent country that acts as a canvas and a cover in the middle of this very challenging geography."

Whether we took Syria or not, it is clear that since the civil war began there, we have paid and continue to pay a massive bill, both financially and morally.

Most concretely; the PKK organization, which was at a minimum level, has been elevated to the position of an "army" on one hand and the representative of the Kurds here on the other, with the instructions of the terrorist leader in Imralı and all kinds of support from the US and France. Now, within the scope of a "terror-free Turkey," we are boasting about the success (!) of making this terrorist organization a partner in the Syrian administration and are working day and night to ensure they are granted "equal citizenship" and all kinds of constitutional guarantees!..

There is No Mention of the Turk Here Either

Yet, one of the groups that paid the highest price in the Syrian civil war was the Turkmens.

So, while our "man" Jolani/Shara gives every kind of guarantee to the PKK/YPG/SDF in every sense, how did he approach them?

While the PKK was integrated into the Syrian army as a bloc to serve where they hold sway, the disbanded Turkmen units were given individual and token duties...

The closure of faculties and vocational schools established by Turkey with very serious funding in places where the Turkmen population is dense has come to the agenda. Moreover, it was reported that the PKK was influential in this purge...

Finally, it emerged that Mazlum Kobani, who was appointed as an advisor to Shara while he was the head of the PKK, demanded that Kurdish be made the language of instruction from primary school to university, while Turkish—which had been taught as an elective course until now—was removed from the curriculum under the name of "common curriculum" implementation or on the pretext that "the curriculum from the Assad era is being applied because the new curriculum is not ready," and replaced with French.

Who is Blocking the Maritime Jurisdiction Agreement?

While the encirclement operation of Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean by Israel, Greece, and the Greek Cypriot administration has accelerated as much as possible, let us look at another issue that is vital for our security but for some reason is never discussed: the maritime jurisdiction agreement with Syria.

Only Minister of Transport Abdülkadir Uraloğlu mentioned this twice. In the first instance, while passing the buck to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he said, "The Syrians have emerged from the war, but they know how to negotiate well. We must not miss the process. That is why we are following the process." In the second, he said that "Turkey has made its preparations and negotiations are ongoing."

When? 10 months ago.

So what happened during this process?

Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration announced that if the agreement were signed, they would veto the 1 billion euros the EU pledged for refugees in Turkey, and that they would also take action to ensure HTS is not removed from the list of terrorist organizations...

Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis, who went to Damascus and met with Jolani/Shara and Foreign Minister Shaybani, emphasized the "importance of commitment to international law and the law of the sea." When Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Konstantinos Kombos went afterward, he was accepted by Shara as the "Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cyprus." In other words, contrary to Turkey's policy, he recognized the Greek Cypriot side as the owner of all of Cyprus...

The EU, the patron of Greece, the Greek Cypriot side, and Israel, while lifting some sanctions on Syria, imposed conditions such as "ending the interference of foreign actors who destabilize the country in the country, and respecting the sovereign rights of EU members within the framework of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and international law in maritime jurisdiction area contracts that Syria will sign with third countries"...

Finally, one of the invitees to the informal meeting organized by the EU in the Greek Cypriot administration, which held the term presidency, with regional countries last April was Syrian President Jolani/Shara. At that meeting, chaired by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who had previously said, "We must succeed in completing the European continent so that it does not fall under Russian, Turkish, or Chinese influence," Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said that Turkey had occupied Cyprus, and Jolani/Shara did not even utter a peep...

We are getting to this point; it was claimed that EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, who came to Ankara in January 2025, received assurances from Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that "Turkey does not intend to sign a memorandum regarding the determination of the Exclusive Economic Zone with Damascus."

We do not know whether such an assurance was given or not; but according to the claim circulating in Ankara, although the Ministry of National Defense completed all work regarding the maritime jurisdiction agreement and sent it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there has been no development!..

They Didn't Even Open the Embassy

There is also our embassy issue.

Turkey suspended the activities of the Damascus Embassy on March 26, 2012, on the grounds of deteriorating relations with the Assad regime and the intensification of the civil war.

Afterward, it requested that Syrian diplomats leave Turkey starting from May 30, 2012. Before this, in 2011, the Syrian Consulate General in Gaziantep was also closed.

Just 4 days after Assad was toppled, Turkey opened the Damascus Embassy on December 12, 2024, followed by the Consulate General in Aleppo. Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yılmaz, who was appointed to the Damascus Embassy, was also recently given the title of "Special Representative for Syria."

Let us move to the Syrian side; while continuing its duty as the Consulate General in Istanbul, the Gaziantep Consulate General, which was closed 15 years ago, was opened last June with a ceremony attended by Foreign Minister Assad Hassan Shaybani.

But while it has embassies in dozens of countries from Armenia to China, from Iran to the Greek Cypriot administration, it still has not opened an embassy in Turkey. I wonder why?

While the heaviest bills are being paid by us, it is clear as day who really took Syria, isn't it?!

Müyesser YILDIZ

September 10, 2026