Syria (region) Gouraud, in breach of the conditions of the mandate, subdivided the French Mandate of Syria into six states. They were the states of Damascus (1920), Aleppo (1920), Alawite State (1920), Jabal Druze (1921), the autonomous Sanjak of Alexandretta (1921) (modern-day Hatay in Turkey), and Greater Lebanon (1920) which later became the modern country of Lebanon. The region has sites that are significant to Abrahamic religions: Syria (region) The region of Syria (, Hieroglyphic Luwian: "Sura/i"; ; in modern literature called "Greater Syria", "Syria-Palestine", or the Levant) is an area located east of the Mediterranean sea. Throughout history, the region has
Foreign relations of Syria bound for regional and Western markets This article is adapted from the United States Department of State "Background note" on Syria, visualised December 2003, the current version of which is available at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3580.htm#foreign. Foreign relations of Syria Ensuring national security, increasing influence among its Arab neighbors, and securing the return of the Golan Heights, have been the primary goals of Syria's foreign policy. At many points in its history, Syria has seen virulent tension with its geographically cultural neighbors, such as Turkey, Israel, Iraq, and Lebanon. Syria enjoyed an improvement in relations with several of the states in its region