ABSTRACT
Since 2008 the border region between Turkey and Syria has undergone profound changes. In the space of just a few years, actors of different status have appropriated and controlled this region in various ways. The borderline was split into many segments managed by different states or armed groups – either allied or enemy – depending on the evolution of the Syrian conflict. Today, in 2015, the Turkish and Syrian states are in two highly different positions as the legitimate actors of border control. Whereas in the north the Turkish state maintains political and military control over the border, in the south the Syrian state runs only a small segment to the west, in the Hatay region. In the north, Turkey is a state of law enjoying sovereignty over its territory; it is also endowed with a powerful and loyal army able to close the border or severely restrict cross-border flows. In the south, the control of checkpoints has become a strategic stake for the various belligerents involved in the Syrian conflict, as the ability to command flows depends on the geopolitical positioning of armed groups running checkpoints in the field. The state, as the legitimate authority over national borders, is here in dispute, which in turn calls into question the very status of borders and the practices they generate.
