MenuOn December 8, 2025, Turkish troops entered northern Syria from Afrin, Ras al-Ain, and the northern Aleppo countryside a year after their chosen candidate, the Islamist militia Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), ended the Syrian civil war, ousting Ba’athist dictator Bashar al-Assad and installing HTS founder and leader Ahmad al-Sharaa as Syria’s interim president. Until recently, HTS was recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States, the U.N. Security Council, Canada, Turkey, and other countries. While current reporting frames the convoy’s entry primarily in terms of Turkey’s ongoing security posture in northern Syria, this is an insufficient understanding of Ankara’s escalation. A clearer picture emerges if one analyses Turkey’s Islamist policies, neo-Ottoman imperial aspirations, as well as energy security strategy.
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