As the impact of attacks launched by the United States and Israel on Iran continues to reverberate across the region and neighboring countries, a trilateral meeting held on April 5 between Ukraine, Syria and Türkiye has drawn attention to emerging regional alignments.

Experts say the talks, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s remarks on opening "new relations and new opportunities,” signal the potential for new forms of cooperation taking shape in the region.

Recalling that the scene of Netanyahu sharing a map at the United Nations in 2024 where Iran, Iraq and Syria marked in black and described as "cursed,” "Türkiye has taken increasingly visible and assertive steps centred on stability in the Middle East,” Merve Suna Özel Özcan, associate professor and the vice chair of the International Relations Department at Kırıkkale University, told to Daily Sabah.

"In this context, Syria has moved beyond theoretical debates to become a red line for Türkiye, while also emerging as a central hub of regional power competition,” she asserted.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrived in Syria on Sunday for a trilateral meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

According to Turkish diplomatic sources, Fidan held talks in Damascus with President al-Sharaa and President Zelenskyy, discussing bilateral issues and regional matters.

The talks focused on bilateral projects for rebuilding postwar Syria and supporting Syria’s capacity-building efforts, sources said.

Özcan pointed out that Israel’s recent policies, particularly those targeting Syria in the post-Assad period, reflect a broader expansionist and security-driven strategy that is also visible in Gaza, tensions involving Iran, the United States and Israel, and developments in Lebanon.

She added that this approach points to an effort to fragment the region into more manageable zones of instability.

"Within this context, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s visits to Syria are seen as carrying strategic weight beyond routine diplomacy, highlighting Türkiye’s ability to directly influence and balance developments on the ground.”

Following Sunday’s meeting in Damascus, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shared a post on his X social media account saying that the talks focused on building "new relations and new opportunities,” while expanding cooperation to ensure regional security. Discussions covered a wide range of issues, including energy, infrastructure and food security, as well as efforts to address the consequences of war.

The Ukrainian leader also said the sides reviewed the ongoing negotiation process related to Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Zelenskyy expressed gratitude for the reception in Syria and noted that Ukraine was among the first countries to support a new Syrian administration following the fall of the Assad regime.

He added that Kyiv remains committed to supporting stability and development in Syria, emphasizing plans to strengthen cooperation to boost economic growth and resilience in both countries.

"We agreed to work ​together to provide more security and opportunities for development ​for ⁠our societies," Zelenskyy also wrote on Telegram. "There is a great interest in exchanging military and security experience."

According to Özcan, the Iran-U.S.-Israel tensions and the war between Russia and Ukraine are no longer separate crises but are increasingly converging into interconnected conflict zones since wars now are no longer isolated events; they are evolving into multilayered and interlinked systems.

"The Iran-U.S.-Israel conflict and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war in the north should not be viewed as separate phenomena; rather, they are increasingly forming interconnected zones of crisis. Wars are no longer isolated events but are evolving into multilayered and interlinked conflict systems.

"Within this new form of warfare, not only military dynamics but also energy routes, trade corridors, cyberspace and space technologies must be considered together,” she noted.

"In this context, Türkiye stands out as one of the few actors pursuing proactive mediation across two distinct conflict axes, both in the Russia–Ukraine war and in tensions involving Iran, the United States and Israel.”

On April 4, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Istanbul to discuss bilateral ties, efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war and broader regional and global developments.

During the talks, Erdoğan reiterated Türkiye’s commitment to supporting negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, stressing the region’s urgent need for peace and stability.

He also underscored Ankara’s strong emphasis on ensuring safe navigation in the Black Sea and maintaining energy supply security, according to a statement from the presidency.

Erdoğan said Türkiye remains determined to increase trade volume with Ukraine and will continue taking steps to strengthen economic cooperation and he also welcomed Ukraine’s efforts to deepen relations with Gulf countries, the statement said.

On the other hand, commenting on Zelenskyy’s aboard a Turkish presidential aircraft while traveling to Syria’s capital, she noted, "Zelenskyy’s presence on a Turkish aircraft should be understood as both a strategic security measure and a geopolitical opening.”

Drawing attention to that the Russia-Ukraine war continues under the shadow of the Iran–US–Israel conflict, which has contributed to a degree of strategic isolation for Ukraine, "Both on the battlefield and at the negotiating table, it appears that Türkiye’s mediation will once again play a decisive role in efforts to bring the Russia–Ukraine war to an end,” she argued.

As the footage showed, the Ukrainian leader flew on an aircraft from Türkiye’s presidential fleet bearing the registration TC-IST.

"The region may be entering a period of profound transformation,” she cautioned, concluding that the Middle East’s security architecture is undergoing a significant shift amid broader changes in the international order.