Southeastern Anatolia Project in the context of Mardin Province

Turkey–Syria relations are the relations between the Republic of Türkiye and the Syrian Arab Republic. Turkey shares its longest common border with Syria; various geographic and historical links also tie the two neighbouring countries together.

The traditionally tense relations between Turkey and Syria had been due to disputes including the self annexation of the Hatay Province to Turkey in 1939, water disputes resulting from the Southeastern Anatolia Project, and Syria's support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (abbreviated as PKK) and the now-dissolved Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (abbreviated as ASALA) which has been recognised as a terrorist organisation by NATO, the EU, and many other countries. Relations improved greatly after October 1998, when PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan was expelled by the Syrian authorities. However, the Syrian civil war once again strained relations between the two countries, leading to the suspension of diplomatic contact. A serious incident occurred with the Syrian downing of a Turkish military training flight in June 2012, resulting in Turkey calling an emergency meeting of NATO.

The Keban Dam (Turkish: Keban Barajı) is a hydroelectric dam on the Euphrates, located in the Elazığ Province of Turkey. The dam is the first and uppermost of several large-scale dams to be built on the Euphrates by Turkey. Although the Keban Dam was not originally constructed as a part of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), it is now a fully integrated component of the project, which aims to stimulate economic development in Southeastern Turkey. Construction of the dam commenced in 1966 and was completed in 1974. Keban Dam Lake (Turkish: Keban Baraj Gölü), the reservoir created by Keban Dam, has a surface area of 675 square kilometres (261 sq mi) and is reputedly the fourth-largest lake in Turkey after Lake Van, Lake Tuz, and the reservoir created by the Atatürk Dam.

The Ilısu Dam (Turkish pronunciation: [ɯɫɯˈsu]) is a concrete-face rock-fill dam on the Tigris near the village of Ilısu and along the border of Mardin and Şırnak Provinces in Turkey. It is one of the 22 dams of the Southeastern Anatolia Project and its purpose is hydroelectric power production, flood control and water storage. When operational, the dam will support a 1,200 MW power station and will form a 10.4 billion m reservoir. Construction of the dam began in 2006 and was originally expected to be completed by 2016. As part of the project, the much smaller Cizre Dam is to be constructed downstream for irrigation and power. The dam has drawn international controversy, because it will flood portions of ancient Hasankeyf and necessitate the relocation of people living in the region. Because of this, the dam lost international funding in 2008. Most historical structures in Hasankeyf were moved to the new Hasankeyf prior to the filling of the dam. The dam began to fill its reservoir in late July 2019. Due to rainfall, the dam has achieved water levels up to 100m above the river bed and stored 5 billion cubic meters of water. The water level had reached an elevation of 498.2m on 1 April 2020.

DSI has started testing 2 turbines for energy production after completing the spillway testing. The dam reservoir has attained a water volume of 7.6 billion cubic meters. Water storage crest level was 513m on 19 April 2020. It would need 12m rise to achieve the maximum storage level.

The Karakaya Dam is one of the 21 dams of the Southeastern Anatolia Project of Turkey, built on the Euphrates River and completed in 1987. The hydroelectric dam generates power with six units of 300 MW, totalling the installed capacity to 1,800 MW.

Kralkızı Dam is one of the 21 dams of the Southeastern Anatolia Project of Turkey in Batman. The hydroelectric power plant has a total installed power capacity of 94 MW. The dam was constructed between 1985 and 1997.

The amount of water in the Kralkızı Dam, which should have 2 billion cubic meters of water in its lake for electricity generation, dropped to 520 million cubic meters due to drought. Due to the decrease in the water level, electricity production was suspended for 46 days in January 2007, and it was reported that the water level should be at least 700 million cubic meters for energy production. These facilities are located on the Maden Stream, one of the important tributaries of the Tigris River, at a distance of 81 kilometres to Diyarbakır and 6 kilometres to the township of Dicle.

The Atatürk Dam (Turkish: Atatürk Barajı), originally the Karababa Dam, is the third largest dam in the world and it is a zoned rock-fill dam with a central core on the Euphrates River on the border of Adıyaman Province and Şanlıurfa Province in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Built both to generate electricity and to irrigate the plains in the region, it was renamed in honour of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938), the founder of the Turkish Republic. The construction began in 1983 and was completed in 1990. The dam and the hydroelectric power plant, which went into service after the upfilling of the reservoir was completed in 1992, are operated by the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ). The reservoir created behind the dam, called Atatürk Reservoir (Turkish: Atatürk Baraj Gölü), is the third largest in Turkey.

The dam is situated 23 km (14 mi) northwest of Bozova, Şanlıurfa Province, on state road D-875 from Bozova to Adıyaman. Centerpiece of the 22 dams on the Euphrates and the Tigris, which comprise the integrated, multi-sector, Southeastern Anatolia Project (Turkish: Güney Doğu Anadolu Projesi, known as GAP), it is one of the world's largest dams. The Atatürk Dam, one of the five operational dams on the Euphrates as of 2008, was preceded by Keban and Karakaya dams upstream and followed by Birecik and the Karkamış dams downstream. Two more dams on the river have been under construction.