DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSFORMATION AND AUTONOMOUS STRUCTURES IN THE SYRIAN CIVIL WAR: GEOPOLITICAL ENGINEERING AND REGIONAL SECURITY DYNAMICS

The Syrian civil war has fundamentally altered regional security balances as one of the most complex and multifaceted conflicts of the twenty-first century. This research examines the systematic relationship between demographic transformation and the formation of autonomous structures in the Syrian civil war within the framework of geopolitical engineering and regional security dynamics. The central problematic of the study focuses on whether demographic changes emerged as coincidental or as a planned strategy, the extent to which external actors played a determinant role in the formation of autonomous structures, and how this process affected regional security dynamics. The hypothesis of the research is that demographic transformation is part of a systematically implemented multi-actor engineering project aimed at achieving geopolitical objectives. The study employs qualitative research design based on multiple document analysis and discourse analysis methods. The theoretical framework is constructed through the integration of geopolitical realism, structuralism, securitization theory, and critical geopolitics approaches. United Nations reports, human rights organization documents, academic studies, and field reports have been systematically examined, and demographic engineering processes have been analyzed. Findings reveal that the demographic transformation in the Northern Syria region during the thirteen-year process between two thousand eleven and two thousand twenty-four was implemented in planned stages. The systematic displacement of approximately seven to nine million Arab and Turkmen populations and the settlement of masses brought from different regions in their place provide concrete evidence strengthening demographic engineering claims. The results of the research demonstrate that demographic transformation was designed to create an ethnic legitimacy basis for autonomous structures, fragment central state authority, and restructure regional power balances. International coalition support, efforts to legitimize terrorist organizations, and selective application of international law norms have been identified as determinant factors in the institutionalization process of autonomous structures. The study offers original theoretical contributions to the literature through the concretization of the geopolitical engineering concept in the Syrian case and proposes critical assessments for the development of regional peace and security policies.