For more than seven years, international powers have fought proxy wars in Syria, with each actor scheming to establish a permanent foothold. Turkey entered the stage with two military incursions into Syria; Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Olive Branch.
Operation Euphrates Shield began in August of 2016 and ended in March 2017, followed by Operation Olive Branch, which began in January this year and ended in March. A period of intensive construction followed both operations, and included projects that ranged from education to healthcare, religious services to transport, and even the establishment of branches of the Turkish postal service in Syria.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, or Diyanet, also extended its operations into Syria. The Diyanet has taken on the repair and construction of mosques and the establishment of Quran courses in northern Syria, alongside educating, appointing, and coordinating religious officials and paying the salaries of local officials.
The Diyanet published a report in July detailing its activities in Syria, as well as Turkey’s role in the reconstruction of the region.
The report provided information on the preparation of videos to combat violent religious movements and the provision of religious education.
The report revealed that some $4 million had been spent on the repairs of 108 mosques and other religious spaces in one year. It also said religious officials had been appointed to the Syrian cities of Azaz, al-Bab, and Jarablus and $65,000 spent on buildings for them. In the district of Afrin, the target of this year’s Operation Olive Branch, $58,000 was spent on 360 mosques and an additional $1.1 million set aside for the repair of 160 mosques.
The report said the Diyanet not only took on the repair of religious buildings, but also worked on religious education even while clashes were still ongoing. After military operations ended, the Diyanet appointed 1,019 educators in the Euphrates Shield region, and 73 in the Olive Branch region.
In the Euphrates Shield region, muftis coordinated the education and organisation of 1,472 local religious officials. Five coordinators were appointed to oversee the bulk of the Euphrates Shield region, whereas seven coordinators were appointed for the Olive Branch region in order to “ensure that religious services are actively and abundantly offered” in the region. “Leadership and guidance are prioritised in the religious services that are offered,” it said.
The Diyanet’s Charitable Foundation paid the salaries of local authorities trained and appointed by the directorate. From May 2017 until June 2018, Syrian religious authorities were paid $980,000.
Hande Yiğit, who covers the Middle East and Arab regions for sendika.org , said Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) aimed to counter the influence of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) that controls much of the rest of northern Syria.
Yiğit argues that the AKP is working to reshape a part of Syria line with its own ideology. In the lead up to Turkish local elections in March next year, the AKP could be laying the groundwork for a return of 3 million Syrian refugees to address the growing discontent against the Syrian presence in Turkey.
Yiğit said the AKP intended to create a lasting neo-Ottomanist presence in the region.
“The active presence of Turkish police in the region, the Turkifying of traffic signs, the opening of hospitals and post offices, the construction of mosques, and similar projects are aimed at realising these dreams,” she said.
Erdoğan’s advance though depends on Russia, and will only continue as long as Russia looks the other way. “Turkey could become a country that pays the price for the heavy political and military weight that it has taken on, with little gain,” Yiğit said.
Russian approval though, will not necessarily translate into Syrian and Iranian acceptance of Turkish forces in the country.
“The Syrian government sees Turkey’s presence in the region as an occupation, and claims that Turkey is subverting the region’s political, economic, and cultural structures through terrorists for hire … The Syrian government has made it clear that it is determined to save every inch of the country from occupying forces. They reiterate this to officials at every chance they get. (Turkey’s presence) will last only until Russia decides to turn the green light to a red light,” Yiğit said
Hediye Levent, a Turkish freelance journalist in the region, said Turkey’s public works projects and educational programmes might not be enough to guarantee a continued Turkish presence and influence.
“For Turkey to establish a lasting foothold in Syria, a few political conditions must be met. The Syrian war is a many-sided proxy war. For Turkey to remain, the countries involved in this proxy war must reach a consensus. This is not currently the case,” she said.
Levent said that while the Syrian government had condemned the Turkish military presence in the country, it had not prioritised the issue because “neither Damascus not Russia expects Turkey to have a lasting presence in Syria”.
