Just good neighbors? What nations helping Syria really want – DW – 06/11/2025

DW

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Aid, money, political cover — Syria's neighbors are providing a lot to the war-torn country. But the likes of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the US are obviously not just helping Syria because they're benevolent and kind.
With strings attached — that is how almost all the recent foreign aid and assistance into Syria should be seen. After the December 2024 rebel offensive that toppled the country's decades-long Assad family dictatorship, various neighboring states have stepped in to help Syria recover from 14 years of brutal civil war.
There is a lot of vaunted talk of humanitarian assistance, Arab unity, international development and regional security. But as in any other diplomatic sphere, most of the countries involved are also acting in their own self-interest. So, what are they doing in Syria and why?
Turkey: Biggest winner
Turkey has often been described as the "biggest winner" after the ousting of the Assad regime in a lightning offensive led by the rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS.
"The [HTS] group had long cultivated a close working relationship with Ankara because the rebels controlled Idlib, a province on the Turkish border in northern Syria," Asli Aydintasbas, a senior policy fellow and expert on Turkey at the European Council on Foreign Relations, or ECFR, explained recently .
HTS has gone on to form an interim government, keeping some of the most powerful ministries — such as defense, foreign affairs and interior — for its own members or close associates. This puts the Turkish government, with existing ties to HTS, in a powerful position.
"Turkey, first and foremost, in the mid- and long term, is interested in the stabilization of Syria," Sinem Adar, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies . "It doesn't want a failed state at its border."
Earlier this month, Turkish defense minister Yasar Guler (pictured) said Turkish soldiers will stay in Syria for the time being Image: SIMON WOHLFAHRT/AFP
There are currently around 20,000 Turkish troops in northern Syria, there has been talk of a Turkish-Syrian defense pact, as well as plans to set up Turkish air and naval bases inside Syria. Earlier this month, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler told journalists his country will help train the new Syrian military.
In the shorter term, one of Turkey's primary objectives was to counter Syrian Kurdish forces, who controlled large parts of Syria's northeast during the war. Turkey considers these to be allied with the militant Kurdish Worker's Party, or PKK. For decades, the latter was engaged in a violent, armed struggle against Turkey, for Kurdish rights, but announced the end of their insurgency earlier this year.
This is why Turkey has backed the formation of a centralized government in Syria, rather than a federation of semi-autonomous areas run by different Syrian communities, including the Kurds. For now, Turkey appears to have got its way: Syria's Kurds have agreed to be part of the central, HTS-led interim government and say their troops will join the new Syrian army.
There are also economic opportunities for Turkey in Syria. The neighboring country was already providing a lot of consumer goods in HTS-controlled areas and also has a large construction sector that would benefit from rebuilding in Syria. In fact, stock prices for Turkish construction sector businesses rose around 3% after the ouster of the Assad regime.
A more prosperous Syria would also mean Syrian refugees in Turkey, who have become a tricky political issue, would be more likely to return home Image: Ahmed Deeb/dpa/picture alliance
The Gulf states: Money and power
Various Gulf states have come to Syria's financial and reputational rescue over the past few months. Saudi Arabia and Qatar paid off its $15.5 million (€13.6 million) debt to the World Bank, Qatar will pay around $87 million in salaries for Syrian public servants and some of Syria's first major development deals have been with United Arab Emirates, Qatari and Turkish companies. Saudi Arabian leaders also successfully pushed for the lifting of sanctions on Syria and, although it was never officially confirmed, the UAE allegedly helped defuse tensions between Syria and neighboring Israel.
"The [Gulf] states are exerting their leverage on Syria's need of financial resources to entrench economic and political alliances with the new leadership in Damascus," Eleonora Ardemagni, a senior research fellow at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, explained in a June analysis .
"[Gulf] states' interest lies in strengthening their political, security and economic ties with Damascus and using this to address questions that matter to them, such as trafficking of the Captagon drug and counterterrorism," Emily Tasinato, an ECFR fellow researching the Gulf region, also wrote recently.
For Gulf leaders, there is also emphasis on filling the geopolitical power vacuum that arose after the end of the Assad regime. Previously Iran and Russia were Assad's biggest supporters and Gulf states, with mostly Sunni Muslim leaderships, were happy to see Iran, a Shiite Muslim theocracy and perennial foe, pushed out. Saudi Arabia is also concerned about Turkey's influence, Ardemagni suggested.
After meeting with Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa (right) in Saudi Arabia, President Trump (center) said he would lift sanctions on Syria partially because Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman (left) asked him to Image: IMAGO
US: A brand new alliance?
US President Donald Trump previously called for American troops to get out of Syria. "This is not our fight," he wrote on social media last December.
But that attitude seems to have changed following talks with the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Turkey, both of whom Trump professes to like personally.
During the civil war, around 2,000 US soldiers were stationed alongside Syrian Kurds, in the ongoing fight against the extremist "Islamic State," or "IS," group. Currently a drawdown is underway, with 500 having already left as Syrian-Kurdish fighters integrate into the general Syrian army.
However, this month, there have also been reports that a US military delegation will soon come to Damascus to make a deal to transition the previously unauthorized American presence into an authorized one.
In an interview with Syria TV last month, US State Department spokesperson Michael Mitchell said it was too early for the US to withdraw completely because of ongoing concerns about the "IS" group. The US was ready to begin a "new era" in its relationship with Syria, Mitchell added.
Observers have speculated the US could actually take on an even bigger role in Syria in the future. This would, they argue, counter Russian influence and potentially even lead to some kind of Syrian-Israeli detente.
Iran, Russia: The biggest losers
Both countries are often described as having lost the most after the ousting of the Assad regime. Both previously had a significant presence in Syria, and this has been significantly reduced. But that does not mean either is gone for good.
Russian diplomats retain a presence in Syria, Russia has controversially positioned itself as a "protector" of Syria's minorities and also has close economic ties to Syrian allies like Turkey and the UAE.
As for Iran, its "influence in Syria is no longer contingent on the Assad regime's survival," Egyptian security analyst Mohamed ELDoh wrote for specialist US outlet, Global Security Review , this month. "It is embedded in paramilitary networks, ideological infrastructure and narco-trafficking cartels."