Executive Summary

Following the fall of Assad's regime, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is attempting to reshape Syria into a client state through three central vectors consistently employed throughout the Middle East: Neo-Ottoman rhetoric, military strength, and strategic soft power.

This paper analyzes Erdoğan's actions in the Middle East and adjacent regions: Africa and Central Asia, by connecting his neo-Ottoman vision with practical measures, involving both military force and soft-power strategies.

Türkiye's military strength includes an expanding influence in the Mediterranean and the establishment of military bases across the region. Its soft-power strategy comprises extensive economic investments, infrastructure and energy projects, and unprecedented advances in drone technology (which also support its military capabilities).

Although this strategy targets the entire region surrounding Türkiye, this document particularly emphasizes the Syrian aspect. Syria, now effectively without legitimate governance, has become fertile ground and an experimental platform for Erdoğan, allowing him to implement his neo-Ottoman vision largely unchallenged, at least within Syrian territory. This strategy undermines Western interests and risks destabilizing the Middle East. Türkiye's actions, combined with rising tensions in the Mediterranean and connections to extremist entities, require unified attention from Western countries to ensure regional stability.

It is crucial to emphasize that…