The overthrow of the Assad regime caused a global surprise, a development that, depending on the politics of each country, had a different footprint. As the Bloomberg financial news agency reports, for Türkiye, the Syrian president’s fall translates as a big win for Erdogan.

Russia, the US, and even Iran, however, are anxiously watching developments.

Erdogan, who was once on Assad’s side, had urged different rebel groups in Syria to rally.

One of them, was the jihadist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, which, in coordination with other rebel groups, led to the fall of the Assad regime.

The Erdogan government made it clear that it had conveyed to Assad that he had to either make concessions to his opponents or risk the possibility of a conflagration at home.

Türkiye said Assad had ignored its warnings.

Ploen said Erdogan’s government is in an advantageous position to ally itself with the jihadist group (HTS), which has managed, with the help of other rebels, to strengthen its power.

To this puzzle of geopolitical turbulence, another piece is added to the puzzle, the political and economic benefit for Ankara.

Turkish construction companies have seen their shares soar after the collapse of Assad’s government and his flight to Russia in anticipation of being on the front lines of Syria’s reconstruction.

In addition, Türkiye-backed rebels wasted no time in pushing Kurdish forces out of two northern Syrian towns.

The steps are consistent with Erdogan’s longstanding goal of creating a security zone inside Syria to exclude terrorists linked to the PKK, an organization that has been fighting for years to gain autonomy in Türkiye’s southeast.

The move may anger the U.S., given Washington’s support for Kurdish forces, which have been involved in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.

The Ankara government, for its part, has focused its attention on the post-Assad era, while for Iran and Russia, the situation is different as they have lost a key partner, while the US is trying to assess what this development means for its own interests.

For Erdogan, however, the fall of Assad is another step to increase his power in the Middle East and a signal that his influence is growing globally.