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The border between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Turkey ( ar, الحدود السورية التركية, translit=alhudud alsuwriat alturkia; tr, Suriye–Türkiye sınırı) is about long, and runs from the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
in the west to the tripoint with
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
in the east. It runs across Upper Mesopotamia for some , crossing the
Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...
and reaching as far as the
Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...
. Much of the border follows the Southern Turkish stretch of the Baghdad Railway, roughly along the 37th parallel between the 37th and 42nd eastern meridians. In the west, it almost surrounds the Turkish
Hatay Province Hatay Province ( tr, Hatay ili, ) is the southernmost province of Turkey. It is situated almost entirely outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province borders Syria to its south and east, the Turkish province of A ...
, partly following the course of the Orontes River and reaching the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
coast at the foot of Jebel Aqra.


Description

Since Turkey's 1939 appropriation of the Hatay State, the Syrian–Turkish border now touches the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
coast at Ras al-Bassit, south of Mount Aqra ().
Hatay province Hatay Province ( tr, Hatay ili, ) is the southernmost province of Turkey. It is situated almost entirely outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province borders Syria to its south and east, the Turkish province of A ...
borders the Syrian Latakia and Idlib governorates. The westernmost (and southernmost) border crossing is at , some 3 km west of
Yayladağı Yayladağı (), formerly Ordu, ( ar, اوردو, translit=ʾŪrdū; ) is a town and district of Hatay Province in southern Turkey, on the border between Turkey and Syria, south of the city of Antakya. History The district has a long history ...
. The border reaches its southernmost point at , 2 km west of Bidama, to include the now-abandoned village of Topraktutan (Beysun) in Hatay. The border now runs north and east, following the Orontes River for a part of its course, where in 2011 construction of a Syria–Turkey Friendship Dam began (but has since been delayed due to the Syrian Civil War), and east to the Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing on the İskenderun
Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...
road, then further north to the border between Hatay and
Gaziantep Province Gaziantep Province ( tr, ) is a province in south-central Turkey. It is located in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region. Its capital is the city of Gaziantep. It neighbours Ad ...
, where it turns sharply east outside of Meidan Ekbis ( Afrin District), at . With the exception of Hatay province, the Turkish side of the border is entirely within the
Southeastern Anatolia Region The Southeastern Anatolia Region ( tr, Güneydoğu Anadolu Bölgesi) is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous city in the region is Gaziantep. Other examples of big cities are Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Mardin and Adıyaman. It ...
. East of Meidan Ekbis, the border stretches eastward for some 400 km, roughly following the
37th parallel north The 37th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 37 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Africa, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. At this latitude the ...
and passing the 37th to 42nd meridians. From Al-Rai to Nusaybin/ Qamishli, the border follows the tracks of the Konya-Baghdad Railway. It crosses the Euphrates River at Jarabulus/ Karkamış and passes north of the border town of Kobanî (Ayn al Arab) (built in 1912 as part of the Baghdad Railway construction project). The Raqqa Governorate's Tell Abyad District borders the Turkish Şanlıurfa Province, including the divided border town of Tell Abyad/
Akçakale Akçakale ( ar, أقجة قلعة) is an ethnic Arab town and a district of Şanlıurfa Province, in southeastern Turkey. Akçakale forms a divided city with Tell Abyad in Syria, maintaining a border crossing. The Mayor is Mehmet Yalçınkay ...
. The
Al-Hasakah Governorate Al-Hasakah Governorate ( ar, محافظة الحسكة, Muḥāfaẓat al-Ḥasakah, ku, Parêzgeha Hesekê}, syc, ܗܘܦܪܟܝܐ ܕܚܣܟܗ, Huparkiyo d'Ḥasake, also known as syc, ܓܙܪܬܐ, Gozarto) is one of the fourteen governorates (pro ...
, still bordering Şanlıurfa Province, has a border crossing at Ras al-Ayn, connecting to Ceylanpınar. Some 100 km east of Ceylanpınar, the border passes the border town of Nusaybin in the Turkish Mardin Province (ancient ''Nisibis'', the birthplace of
Ephraim the Syrian Ephrem the Syrian ( syc, ܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ, Mār ʾAp̄rêm Sūryāyā, ; grc-koi, Ἐφραὶμ ὁ Σῦρος, Efrém o Sýros; la, Ephraem Syrus; am, ቅዱስ ኤፍሬም ሶርያዊ; ), also known as Saint Ephrem, Saint ...
), next to Syrian Qamishli. The Syrian Aleppo Governorate has a long northern boundary with the Turkish Kilis,
Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approxi ...
, and Şanlıurfa provinces. On the Turkish side, the European route E90 runs alongside the length of the border, crossing the
Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...
at Birecik and the
Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...
at Cizre. For the final 30 km the border follows the course of the Tigris, turning towards the south-east, until it reaches the Iraq-Syria-Turkey tripoint at .


History

At the start of the 20th century the entire border region was part of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
. During the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, an Arab Revolt (supported by the British) successfully ousted the Ottomans from
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
and
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
, however Britain and
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
had secretly agreed to partition the area between them in 1916 via the
Sykes–Picot Agreement The Sykes–Picot Agreement () was a 1916 secret treaty between the United Kingdom and France, with assent from the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy, to define their mutually agreed spheres of influence and control in an eventual partition ...
. In 1920 Syria formally became a French mandatory territory, being initially split into a number of states, including the French-controlled Sanjak of Alexandretta (modern Hatay province). By the 1920
Treaty of Sèvres The Treaty of Sèvres (french: Traité de Sèvres) was a 1920 treaty signed between the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire. The treaty ceded large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, Greece and Italy, as well ...
Anatolian Turkey was to be partitioned, with the Syrian-Turkish frontier placed further north than its current position. Turkish nationalists were outraged at the treaty, contributing to the outbreak the
Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...
; the Turkish success in this conflict rendered Sèvres obsolete. A new border more favourable to Turkey was drawn by the Franco-Turkish Treaty of Ankara in 1921 after negotiations between French Prime Minister Aristide Briand and Turkish Foreign Minister Yusuf Kemal Bey."Ankara, Treaty of" in ''
The New Encyclopædia Britannica ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
''. Chicago:
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article ...
, 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 423.
By the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne Turkey's independence was recognised and a far more generous territorial settlement was agreed upon, albeit at the cost of Turkey formally renouncing any claim to Arab lands. Following Lausanne, the Syrian-Turkish frontier was delimited more precisely between Meidan Ekbis and Nusaybin in 1926, and between Nusaybin and the tripoint with
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
in 1929. A Final Delimitation Protocol covering the entire boundary east of Hatay was then confirmed and deposited with the
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...
on 3 May 1930. A special case was what is now Turkey's Hatay province, which remained autonomous until 1923, then became part of Syria as the Sanjak of Alexandretta, briefly became independent as the Hatay State in 1938, before being annexed by Turkey as Hatay Province in 1939. The Hatay section of the boundary was delimited in 1938 and then confirmed the following year, being marked on the ground by numerous pillars. Hatay was then formally transferred to Turkey on 23 July 1939. Syria gained independence in 1944, and the frontier then became one between two sovereign states; when Turkey joined
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
(1952) and the OSCE (1973), its boundary with Syria also then formed an outer border of these organisations. Syria continued to claim Hatay province as part of Greater Syria, often depicting the region as part of Syria on official maps, though in recent decades their claims have been less pronounced.parliament.gov.sy – معلومات عن الجمهورية العربية السورية
"The Alexandretta Dispute"
''American Journal of International Law''
Since the Syrian Civil War broke out in 2011, tensions across the border have increased, and there have been a number of clashes; there has also been a substantial influx of refugees across the border to Turkey. Turkey began construction of a border barrier in 2014.Reuters: "Turkish developer confident Syria wall in place by spring" By Nevzat Devranoglu and Orhan Coskun
December 9, 2016

23 Jul 2015
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, around 471 Syrians civilians, including 86 children and 45 women, have been killed by the Turkish gendarmerie at the Syrian–Turkish border since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.


Border crossings

From west to east, as of 1 July 2019.


Gallery

File:Syria-Turkey_border_map.png, Map of the Syria–Turkey border File:Turkey-Syria Barrier.jpg, A section of the border wall built by Turkey File:Bassin Tigre Euphrate.jpg, Map of the
Tigris–Euphrates river system The Tigris–Euphrates river system is a large river system in Western Asia which discharges into the Persian Gulf. Its principal rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates along with smaller tributaries. From their sources and upper courses in the mou ...
across the eastern part of the Syro-Turkish border File:الجبل الأقرع خلف كسب.JPG, The Syrian town of Kessab, with the peak of Mount Aqra (Turkey) in the background


See also

*
Syria–Turkey barrier The Syria–Turkey barrier is a border wall and fence under construction along the Syria–Turkey border built in an attempt at preventing illegal crossings and smuggling from Syria into Turkey.Syria–Turkey relations * Syrian–Turkish border clashes during the Syrian Civil War ** Northern Syria Buffer Zone * Syrian Turkmen *
Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languag ...
* Refugees of the Syrian Civil War


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Syria-Turkey border 1961 establishments in Syria 1961 establishments in Turkey 1961 in international relations International borders