Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Giorgio Cafiero
“Soon after Syria experienced its Arab Spring uprising in 2011 and slid into a gruesome civil war, the country became a battleground for Russia, Iran, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah supporting the former regime on one side, and Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey backing rebel groups on the other. Since Bashar al-Assad’s ouster late last year, however, dynamics have shifted, transforming Syria into an arena of Turkish-Israeli competition. A major source of tension between Turkey and Israel stems from the former’s desire to see Syria emerge as a strong, unitary state with a Turkey-oriented government in Damascus while the latter wants Syria permanently weak and divided along ethno-sectarian lines.” (04/29/25)