The Middle East’s enduring crises stem not from shifting borders but from the imperialist and oppressive forces shaping them, with Syria’s plight epitomizing this struggle.
The Middle East, a region of profound historical and cultural significance, has been a focal point for global powers, often at the expense of its people. Since the Sykes-Picot Agreement, Western imperialists have redrawn borders to serve their interests, disregarding local populations and deepening instability. Syria’s current crisis, marked by the oppressive Assad regime and external interventions, reflects the destructive legacy of such manipulations. While digital maps distort realities, the true solution lies in dismantling oppressive systems, addressing imperialist influences, and restoring justice and unity. Turkey’s role as a moral and regional leader underscores the urgency of defending Syria’s territorial integrity and prioritizing its people’s rights.
Since November 27, we have been following developments in Syria through Google Maps and digital maps shared on social media platforms. However, there is a matter far more critical than the changing borders on these maps: the overthrow of the oppressive Assad regime and the imperialist and Zionist order supporting it. Digital maps are merely modern versions of maps drawn with rulers; the real issue lies in dismantling the ideological and political forces shaping these maps and oppressing the region’s people for decades.
The Middle East, home to some of the oldest civilizations in human history, has always been a focal point for global powers and religions due to its cultural diversity and strategic importance. However, this rich heritage has also made it a center of instability and conflict, where external interventions have sought to reshape the region and its peoples. The area’s abundant resources, such as oil and natural gas, its role as a bridge between Europe, Asia, and Africa, and its status as the host of religious centers have intensified global interest in the Middle East.
From the late 1800s, imperialists began redrawing the map of the Middle East at negotiation tables using rulers, and their ambitions materialized concretely in 1916 with the Sykes-Picot Agreement. This agreement stands as one of the clearest and most influential examples of external interventions in history. When Britain and France partitioned the Ottoman Empire’s territories with artificial borders, Western interests were prioritized, and the will of the region’s people was entirely disregarded. The Sykes-Picot Agreement not only physically redrew regional boundaries but also profoundly altered the sociopolitical structure and demographics of the Middle East.
In particular, the agreement laid the groundwork for the establishment of a Zionist state in Palestinian territories, initiating a restructuring process that ignored the rights and cultural ties of the local populations. Subsequent international meetings, such as the Paris Peace Conference (1919), the San Remo Conference (1920), and the Cairo Conference (1921), became mechanisms for Western powers to safeguard their interests in the region. These meetings established mandate regimes and systematically suppressed the independence demands of the local populations.
The Western imperialists’ century-long plans for the Middle East have been updated every decade, implemented by redrawing borders. In this process, the pretext of “protecting” Israel from the region’s populations has been used to reinforce Western control over the area and employ maps as tools of hegemony. Today, as the Syrian civil war enters its 13th year, the reflections of these map wars are starkly evident. Under France’s mandate administration, Syria’s sociopolitical dynamics were manipulated to serve French interests. The Alawite minority was placed at the top of the bureaucracy and military, while the Sunni Muslim majority was systematically marginalized. These policies fractured Syria’s internal dynamics, igniting the civil war and fueling ongoing instability.
The humanitarian tragedies and political crises witnessed today are direct consequences of the artificial borders drawn at negotiation tables a century ago. The system established during the French mandate has led to over 500,000 innocent deaths in Syria and a de facto instability that has persisted for 13 years. The ongoing debates over the redrawing of Syria’s borders necessitate not only a reconsideration of the physical borders but also a critical reassessment of the historical, ideological, and political foundations that define them. The core issue lies not in the shape of the borders but in questioning the ideologies and interest-driven policies that created them. Without analyzing the power dynamics and imperialist interventions behind these maps, any discussion risks paving the way for new forms of border engineering.
The lack of open discussion about the dominance of the roughly 15% Alawite minority over the 85% Sunni majority in Syria and the resulting problems could lead, even after the fall of the Assad regime, to the replacement of one minority group by another, orchestrated by imperialist forces.
Border Engineering and Perception Management in the Digital Age
The digital age presents new challenges to border engineering. Today, a Syrian child with a smartphone can dismantle the ruler-drawn borders in digital networks and invent new ones. Maps have evolved beyond physical realities to become powerful tools for manipulation and perception management. However, attempting to understand Syria through these digital maps obscures the region’s fundamental issues and leads to the neglect of genuine solutions.
Digital maps and social media platforms often provide a distorted lens on developments on the ground, exaggerating or underrepresenting events in a manipulative framework. The constantly shifting map lines create a misleading illusion that determines the fates of people. This distracts the international community from the core issues and leaves it vulnerable to the effects of digital maneuvering. In sensitive conflict zones like Syria, such manipulations deepen divisions and complicate conflict resolution.
The new tools of the digital age offer an alternative perception of reality for understanding and resolving conflicts. However, this perception, built on a foundation susceptible to manipulation, distorts reality, creating a confusing hyperreality. For example, the operations launched by opposition groups in the Aleppo and Hama regions of Syria on November 27, 2024, were followed globally through Instagram stories, posts on X (formerly Twitter), and platforms like Google Maps, becoming part of this hyperreality. Yet these platforms overshadow the humanitarian tragedies and political realities on the ground, crafting a deceptive narrative.
The primary issue in Syria remains the dismantling of both the Assad regime and the imperialist schemes behind it. Discussions about borders should not overshadow this fundamental problem; the true solution lies in securing freedom and justice for the people. Presenting Syria as fragmented through different map drafts and conducting analyses based on maps represents a form of perception engineering. Such manipulative narratives reflect an approach detached from the essence of the conflicts. The constantly shifting map lines fuel regional fragmentation and misleading perceptions in the international community, rather than offering real solutions.
The humanitarian and political crises in Syria cannot be resolved solely within the framework of hyperreality created by digital manipulation. Instead, the focus must return to addressing the core issues of justice, freedom, and dismantling external domination, rather than being diverted by the illusions of ever-changing borders.
The Future of Syria: A Just and Lasting Solution
If Syria is to remain truly the homeland of the Syrian people, the primary issue is not redrawing maps but ending the Assad regime, which has oppressed its people for years, and establishing a just order. Resisting external efforts to reshape the region for their own interests is critical to Syria’s future. The construction of a just order requires not only physical changes but also an ideological and political transformation. This transformation must dismantle imposed artificial borders, center the historical ties of the people, and establish a system that guarantees their freedoms.
The re-fragmentation of Syria, as it happened a century ago, is unacceptable. The people of Aleppo must defend and preserve national unity, recognizing their role as integral members of a united Syria. Dividing the map into territories allocated to the YPG, Russia, Alawites, or other forces can offer neither a humane nor a politically sustainable solution. Syria’s territorial integrity is a cornerstone not only of regional peace but also of global stability. Therefore, maintaining Syria’s territorial unity is as critical a priority as Turkey’s National Pact (Misak-ı Milli) borders. Turkey, aware of its historical and regional responsibilities, continues to advocate for Syria’s territorial integrity and works toward ensuring stability in the region. This is not merely a geopolitical necessity but also a moral obligation to safeguard the shared destiny of the region’s peoples.
Since 2011, two-thirds of Aleppo’s population has been living away from their homes for 13 years. Similarly, more than half of Syria’s population is struggling to survive under an oppressive regime. This tragedy is not confined to Aleppo but is part of a broader humanitarian crisis across Syria. If we reduce this tragedy to the changing maps on Google Maps, we must accept that another map crisis will emerge in the near future.
Unfortunately, as with the case of Palestine, the international community’s indifference to Syria’s fate and its lack of response to Assad’s use of chemical weapons have allowed the ongoing tragedy to persist. Except for Turkey, no other power has taken meaningful steps to address the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Much of the international community, by remaining indifferent to the atrocities in Syria, has indirectly contributed to the deepening of this crisis. This indifference has forced the Syrian people to bear not only the burden of an oppressive regime but also the weight of international neglect.
Today, even if the maps in the region change, standing with the Syrian people extends beyond physical borders and is shaped by humanitarian values and historical ties. In this context, Turkey has chosen to stand not only for borders but also for the rights and freedoms of its brotherly peoples, with whom it has shared a common history for over a millennium. This stance represents Turkey’s historical responsibility and its solution-oriented approach to humanitarian crises. Turkey’s position is not only a demonstration of regional leadership but also a model for the defense of justice and humanitarian values.
A Future Based on Rights and Justice
The future of the Middle East lies not in the redrawing of borders but in the construction of an order that places the rights, freedoms, and human values of its people at its core. This truth is powerfully expressed in the words of Sezai Karakoç: “Hatay belongs to the Syrians. Diyarbakır, Konya, and Istanbul belong to the Syrians. Just as Aleppo and Damascus are our cities.” This perspective calls for the unity of peoples on the foundation of brotherhood and the dismantling of imposed artificial borders. Ending the interests of imperialist and colonial powers in the Middle East would remove the greatest obstacle to lasting peace. In this process, Turkey, guided by its moral conscience, has the potential to play a pivotal role not only in achieving regional peace but also in contributing significantly to global justice.
