During Assad's presidency, Syria's relations with Turkey were tense. The problem of
Hatay had existed since its annexation by Turkey in 1939. A more important issue between the countries was water supply and Syria's support to the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the
Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA). Turkey was a member of
NATO, while Syria was allied to the Soviet Union; the
Cold War was a guarantor to the
status quo. After the Cold War ended, the issue of Hatay came to prominence.
[76]
Assad offered help to the PKK enabled it to receive training in the
Beka'a' Valley in Lebanon.
Abdullah Öcalan, one of the founders of the PKK, openly used his villa in Damascus as a base for operations. Turkey threatened to cut off all water supplies to Syria.
[77] However, when the Turkish Prime Minister or President sent a formal letter to the Syrian leadership requesting it to stop supporting the PKK, Assad ignored them. At that time, Turkey could not attack Syria due to its low military capacity near the Syrian border, and advised the European NATO members to avoid becoming involved in Middle East conflicts in order to avoid escalating the West's conflict with the Warsaw Pact states, since Syria had good relations with the Soviet Union. However, after the end of the Cold War, Turkish military concentration on the Syrian border increased.
[78] In mid-1998, Turkey threatened Syria with military action because of Syrian aid to Öcalan,
[79] and in October it gave Syria an ultimatum.
[78] Assad was aware of the possible consequences of Syria's continuing support to the PKK. Turkey was militarily powerful while Syria had lost the support of the Soviet Union. The Russian Federation was not willing to help; neither was it capable of taking strong measures against Turkey.
[78] Facing a real threat of military confrontation with Turkey, Syria signed the
Adana Memorandum in October 1998, which designated the PKK as a terrorist organization and required Syria to evict it from its territory.
[80] After the PKK was dissolved in Syria, Turkish-Syrian political relations improved considerably, but issues such as water supplies from the
Euphrates and
Tigris rivers and Hatay remained unsolved.
[78]
