Syria and Turkey are both located in the Middle East, and the two countries share a long border. The border line between Syria and Turkey is more distinctive, as can be seen from the map, the border between the two countries is basically an oblique line, sloping from northeast to southwest, in the area that is about to reach the Mediterranean, this border line turns sharply in the direction of Syria in the south, and then reaches the Mediterranean.
Such a border line would include a large part of the Mediterranean coast within Turkey. This land on the Mediterranean coast is disputed territory between Syria and Turkey, and is now under de facto control by Turkey, which established the province of Hatay. So how did the territorial dispute between the two countries arise, and why is this land under the actual control of Turkey?
First, blurred boundaries. Syria, the full name of the Syrian Arab Republic, is located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of about 185,000 square kilometers and a population of about 19.29 million. Syria is an Arab country with 80% of the population Arab, in addition to a part of the Kurds.
Syria is a peninsula in Asia Minor in the north, connected to Palestine in the south, and bordered by the Mediterranean Sea in the west.
Historically, the land of Syria has been ruled by many great empires. In the 7th century, the Arab Empire controlled Syria, and the Arabs gradually became the main body of Syria.
During the Umayyad period of the Arab Empire, the capital was Damascus, and Syria became the center of the entire Arab Empire. After the fall of the Arab Empire, the Arabs failed to form a unified dynasty again, and the Syrian region began to be suppressed by the regimes in Asia Minor.
After the establishment of the Seljuk Empire, the region of Syria was included in the territory. After the decline of the Seljuk Empire in the 11th century, the Sultanate of Rûm gradually became an independent state. Turkey at that time was only a small tribe under the Sultanate of Rûm. Tribal leaders were required to obey the conscription of the Sultanate of Rum to fight for the Sultanate of Rum and defend its frontiers.
The grandfather of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire, had been fighting for the Sultanate of Rûm for a long time in Syria. Thus, from the fall of the Arab Empire, Syria became a region of confrontation between the Arabs and Asia Minor.
After the establishment of the Ottoman Empire, Syria was incorporated into the territory of the Turks and the province of Damascus was established. During the period of Ottoman rule, Syria's proximity to the peninsula of Asia Minor was a mix of Arabs and Turks, and there were no clear demarcations, so the historical Syrian-Turkish border was very blurred.
Second, the division of the Ottoman Empire between Britain and France. After the end of World War I, the Ottoman Empire was defeated and collapsed, Kemal led the Turks to defeat the Greek army and signed the Treaty of Lausanne with the Entente.
Under the treaty, Turkey kept the peninsula of Asia Minor, and the Arab region was divided between Britain and France. Britain and France roughly demarcated the borders of Turkey and Syria and Iraq according to the distribution of ethnic groups, so the Syrian-Turkish border is basically a diagonal line.
At that time, this diagonal line stretched from the junction of Syria, Turkey, and Iraq to the Mediterranean Sea without obvious turns. At that time, the province of Hatay was included in Syria and became the Alexandreta State of French Syria.
However, due to the fact that during the Ottoman Empire, Turks and Arabs lived together in the Hatay region, and the population ratio of the two ethnic groups was basically equal, and neither side had a clear advantage. Therefore, Turkey has always been bitter about the annexation of Hatay province to Syria.
Thirdly, Turkey annexed the province of Hatay. In October 1921, France and Turkey signed the Treaty of Ankara, which established the border between the two sides, and Turkey recognized the Hatay region as part of Syria under the French Mandate. This treaty was the historical basis for what would become the Syrian region of Khatay.
Turkey recognized the Hatay region as part of France, only under French pressure, and Kemal later repeatedly claimed that Hatay was Turkey's historical territory. Turkish scholars have also continued to publish scholarly articles claiming that the ancestors of the Turks had inhabited the Hatay region four thousand years ago. However, Turkey was afraid of French power and did not dare to seize the Hatay region by force.
In 1936, the situation in Europe was turbulent, France was threatened by Germany, and Turkey openly raised the Hatay issue at a meeting of the League of Nations. In 1937, Turkey held a referendum in support of Turks in the Hatay region, and the results showed that all Turks in the Hatay region supported the annexation to Turkey, but the Turks made up less than 50% of the population of the Hatay region, and the referendum had little effect. The local Arabs were adamantly opposed to the annexation of Hatay to Turkey.
After the outbreak of World War II in 1939, France was too busy to take care of itself, and Turkey directly sent troops to occupy the Hatay region. In 1940, when France was occupied by Germany, an agreement was reached between Turkey and Vichy France, in which Vichy France recognized Hatay as belonging to Turkey, and after being accused by the Arabs, Vichy France defended itself by defending Syria from Turkish aggression.
After World War II, Syria gained independence from France and has been asking Turkey for the Hatay region, but Turkey has refused. Until now, Hatay remains a disputed territory between Syria and Turkey.