The activities carried out by the Turkish army in Syria as a search for a solution to the social and political problems that have occurred in our region in recent years and directly affected our country have brought about discussions about Turkey’s political and military presence there.

The debate, which is handled within a kind of understanding of entitlement or inheritance law and is intended to be drawn on a historical basis, shows a teleological tendency to exclude Turkey’s historical presence in the region.

In this context, the question is asked: “What is Turkey doing in this region?” An answer to this question is also given within the same framework: “Turkey’s claim to have some kind of implicit right in these regions, which have historically been the homelands of Kurds or Arabs, is an occupation.” Surely this is not true.

History shows not only how old the Turkish presence in the region is and how fundamental it is in the historical structuring of the geography, but also that ensuring its continuation is vital for Turkey’s existence and future. Even a bird’s eye view of history will be enough to see this.

In Islamic history, the geography known as Bilad al-Sham, which means “Northern Countries”, with the Hejaz at the center (it would turn into just Damascus over time), corresponded to a wide region that included a large part of today’s Syria. Of course, it should be noted that during the period mentioned here, this geography included today’s Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan, as well as the lands so-called occupied by Israel.

Syria, which has had intense traffic in every period of history due to its fertile lands, famous as the Fertile Crescent, containing towns considered sacred by the heavenly religions and being at the crossroads of trade routes since ancient times, also connected Egypt with al-Jazeera, Iraq and Iran. For this reason, it stood out as the main area of ​​interest of the powers claiming political dominance in the region.

As a matter of fact, it is appropriate to discuss the Turkish presence in Syria along this line. More in Deep History April Issue…