Timeline of Syria, TR Events

• 2008
  • 14/03: A court case to close the governing party AK starts, the Constitutional Court is one vote short to ban the party. It is widey speculated that the army chief at the time, Basbug, convinced gov officials behind the scenes for CC to change its mind.
• 2009
  • 16/09: The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited Turkey as the special guest of PM, during which the two countries signed landmark agreements
  • 17/12: Obama announces troop surge in Afghanistan
• 2010
  • 05/08: Once in a century draught in Russia devastated wheat crops forcing Russia announce a ban on wheat export. 80% of Middle East's wheat came from Russia.
  • 18/12: The Arab Spring is sparked by the first protests that occurred in Tunisia, following a street vendor's self-immolation
• 2011
  • 25/01: Egyptian revolution begins, clashes break out in Tahrir Square
  • 11/02: Egyptian President Mubarak is ousted after 18 days of demonstrations
  • 15/02: Protests in Benghazi Libya begins which would lead to clashes with security forces who fired on the crowd. The protests would later escalate into a rebellion.
  • 15/03: Syrian civil war started
  • 27/03: Assad released hundreds of political prisoners which are mostly Sunni Islamist extremists
  • 02/05: Osama bin Laden was killed in an operation led by the United States.
  • 01/08: TR embraced an explicit policy of regime change in Syria and threw open its doors to thousands of Syrian refugees
  • 13/09: Leak on a pro-Kurdish channel reveals the sides in TR's long-running conflict have been talking in Oslo in secret, with Norway acting as the host
  • 20/10: Muammar Gaddafi, the deposed leader of Libya, was captured and killed after the Battle of Sirte
  • 26/11: PM undergoes an intestinal surgery

• 2012

  • 01/02: After secret negotiations between TR intel and the PKK in Oslo became public, prosecutors said to be close to the Gulen movement tried to subpoena the intel chief to respond to accusations of a “disclosure of information to the PKK”. Gulen Brotherhood was known with hard-line nationalist approach to the Kurds
  • 10/02: PM undergoes a second intestinal surgery
  • 19/07: Kurdish town of Kobanê in Rojova, Syria declared its autonomy. It was followed by Cizire and Afrin.
  • 20/08: Obama said use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a "red line"
  • 09/11: Petraeus resigns as Director of the CIA, after admitting having a sexual relationship with his biographer.
  • 28/12: PM reveals intel chief has been visiting jailed Kurdish guerilla leader to find a solution to the conflict marking the beginning of the Peace Process

• 2013

  • 19/03: Chemical weapons attacks were reported in Syria’s two main cities, the Khan al-Assel neighborhood of Aleppo and the Damascus suburb of al-Atebeh
  • 28/03: Gezi park protests initially started to stop an urban development plan at a park turned into protest on secularism
  • 11/05: Two car bombs exploded in Reyhanlı, a town 5 km from the Syrian border, 52 people were killed and 140 injured
  • 16/05: During TR visit Obama indirectly blames TR intel chief for working with extreme jihadists
  • 06/06: An NSA contractor Edward Snowden starts sharing gov secrets with the media. Americans learn that their government was spying broadly on its own people.
  • 03/07: A military coup in Egypt removes President Morsi from power, Morsi is of the Moslem Brotherhood movement, supported by Qatar.
  • 05/08: Ex-Army Chief Basbug gets life sentence from alleged membership to a right-wing organization. It was assumed the Brotherhood was behind the court case.
  • 13/08: TR gov proposes a new law that would force several private cram schools, many of which are owned by the Gülen Movement, to close
  • 21/08: A rebel-held suburb of Damascus was attacked with sarin gas
  • 31/08: Obama says he would seek an authorization for the use of force from Congress against Syria
  • 09/09: Russia convinces Syria to hand over its stockpile to intl control averting US strike
  • 17/12: Corruption scandal implicating TR gov and its PM started, most thought police close to Gulen Brotherhood was behind it

• 2014

  • 02/01: ISIS takes control of Falluja
  • 19/01: A truck was stopped by TR jandarmee that was claimed to carry weapons for Al Qaida
  • 18/03: Russia annexes Crimea
  • 27/03: Voice recording with TR FM, senior gov officials discussing starting a war with Syria through covert means leaked to Internet
  • 15/05: ISIS cements its rule in Raqqa
  • 11/06: ISIS invades TR Mosul consulate taking many hostage
  • 29/06: ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate with Raqqa as its capital
  • 10/08: TR PM becomes President (a figurehead position at this point)
  • 21/08: Former FM becomes PM
  • 13/09: ISIS begins its siege of Kobane
  • 14/12: Gov backlash against the Brotherhood starts, their businesses fall under investigation
• 2015
  • 07/01: Two French Muslim brothers forced their way into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Armed with rifles and other weapons, they killed 12 people and injured 11 others
  • 26/01: TR gov is not happy with Kurdish gains in North Syria, conveyed to journalists, in essence drawing a "red line"
  • 27/01: Kurdish forces and its allies, backed by the continued US-led airstrikes, retook Kobane
  • 30/01: King Abdullah of Jordan warns US Senate leaders of TR’s pervasive support for Islamic militants and Israel turning a blind eye
  • 28/02: The Dolmabahce Consensus is declared by TR and Kurdish politicians as part of the Peace Process
  • 23/05: Istanbul airport with a mortar shell attack 1 person killed
  • 07/06: TR ruling party loses majority as pro-Kurdish HDP gains seats
  • 18/06: Kurdish forces capture Tel Abyad enabling the geographical link between Kobane and Cizire
  • 30/06: Greece defaults on IMF debt spurring crisis, another bailout programme is signed, EU/Germany's image is a tough austerian
  • 15/07: The Iran nuclear deal, JCPOA, is signed between Iran and the P5+1 countries.
  • 20/07: ISIS does the 2015 Suruç bombing, killing 32 people, largely Kurdish
  • 24/07: Large scale TR police and mil operations start, Kurdish PKK announces end of cessation of hostilities, the Peace Process is effectively dead
  • 06/09: Mafia violence against newspaper Hurriyet allegedly with government support
  • 08/09: Germany adopts an open-door policy to Syrian refugees, around 800K will eventually arrive in the country
  • 30/09: Russian Federation formally entered the Syrian civil war
  • 10/10: Suicide bomb attack Ankara bus station, 103 people lost their lives, 238 people
  • 21/10: Assad makes a surprise visit to Moscow
  • 01/11: Elections repeated, ruling party regains parliamentary majority following a 'shock' victory
  • 13/11: France terror attacks: A series of coordinated terrorist attacks took place, 130 people died
  • 24/11: RU plane downed by TR, plane crashed in Syria
  • 01/12: Russia deploys S-400 surface-to-air missile in Syria
• 2016
  • 11/02: Assad forces retake key Syrian highway
  • 15/02: Kurdish-backed forces take Syrian town
  • 13/03: Ankara suicide bombing killed 37 people injured 125
  • 19/03: Suicide bomb kills 4 in shopping street in Istanbul
  • 21/03: Iranian-TR businessman Zarrab implicated in earlier corruption scandal escapes to US possibly with a wealth of info on TR gov officials
  • 01/04: An Obama interview reveals he considers TR Pres a failure, an authoritarian, one who refuses to use his enormous army to bring stability to Syria
  • 22/05: PM resigns due to ruling party infighting
  • 23/06: Britain votes for Brexit in a referandum
  • 28/06: Airport attack, 45 people were killed 239 people injured in TR
  • 15/07: TR coup attempt
  • 17/08: TR announces interest in buying Russian S-400 defense system
  • 20/08: A wedding is bombed killing 54 civilians and injured 94 in the southeastern TR city of Gaziantep many of whom are Kurdish, Syria connected jihadis were suspected
  • 24/08: TR military offensive into northern Syria starts with US support
  • 04/11: Demirtaş, a pro-Kurdish party leader arrested
  • 19/12: Russian Ambassador to TR assasinated
  • 22/12: Syria's government recaptures all of Aleppo city
• 2017
  • 01/01: Nightclub terrorist attack in TR leaves 39 dead
  • 20/01: Trump becomes the new President
  • 16/03: Referendum grants new powers to TR President
  • 22/05: UK attacks: An Islamist extremist suicide bomber detonated a bomb as people were leaving the Manchester Arena following a concert. 23 people died, and 1,017 were injured
  • 05/06: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic relations with Qatar and banned Qatar-registered planes and ships from utilising their airspace and sea routes, along with Saudi Arabia blocking Qatar's only land crossing.
  • 09/07: Iraqi forces manage to take back Mosul from ISIS
  • 25/07: TR signs deal to buy Russian S-400 defense system
  • 25/09: Kurdish region in Iraq holds a referandum where most voting for independence, Iraqi central government objects
  • 16/10: Iraqi government takes back Kirkuk from Kurds, an area previously voted for independence, by force
  • 17/10: Raqqa, the ISIS capital, is captured by Kurdish, Arab forces (SDF) with US air support
  • 03/11: Lebanon's PM Hariri held hostage in Saudi Arabia, handed a prewritten resignation speech and forced to read it on Saudi television. PM returns home 3 weeks later in a trip brokered by France, and suspended his resignation.
• 2018
  • 19/01: TR invades Afrin a Kurdish-controlled region, Russia does not block Syria’s airspace indicating tacit support
  • 07/04: Saudi Arabia reveals plans to cut off Qatar from mainland by building a new maritime channel along the border
  • 25/06: Sitting President reelected
  • 02/10: Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Arabia's government, walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and killed there
• 2019
  • 06/10: US pulls out of NE Syria, with WH permission TR attempts to invade the area, displacing the Kurds in the region. There is an uproar, US is accused of abandoning the Kurds.
  • 07/10: Due to pressure from within his own party, Trump now wants TR to play nice, tweets about 'destroying the Turkish economy' or else.
  • 15/10: Kurds ask Assad for help, regime forces enter towns Manbij and Kobani. TR did manage to take Tel Abyad, and to cut M4 highway.
• 2020
  • 27/02: Russia kills 33 TR soldiers by air strikes in Idlib