Abstract:

It is possible to say that the second and the first half of the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s was Turgut Özal, one of the important political actors that directed the relations between Turkey and Syria. Özal's attempt to establish good relations with neighbouring countries and resolve political disputes by developing economic relations has directly affected the relations between Turkey and Syria. Turkey-Syria relations, which are stressed for reasons such as the presence of the PKK in Syria and the water issue, have been attempted to overcome by the mutual visits under the leadership of Özal and the signed protocols of security and economic cooperation. Though the concrete steps taken during the special period do not lead to a permanent cooperation in the relations of the two countries, it is important that the parties have made it possible to negotiate the issues. This study discusses how the relations between Turgut and Syria followed in the period 1983-1993 called the Turgut Özal period. These years, despite all the concrete efforts, have come to history as a period where disputes dominate in the Turkish-Syrian relations.