I get that Turkey was extremely vulnerable to the Axis, so their entry by economic pressure was doable IMHO, but fortifying Syria without Turkey in the Axis is impossible. The reason that the operation failed IOTL was the lack of ability to supply Syria due to Cyprus and British control of the Eastern Mediterranean that close to Cyprus. IOTL the Turks even shot down a Luftwaffe transport carrying German troops headed to Syria for violating their airspace, the only option to actually being able to reach Syria due to range issues.
Thing is, the British had air and sea control in the eastern Med because of their positions in Cyprus, Palestine, and Egypt; including southern Turkey, the Vichy French in Lebanon and Syria were at the bottom of a sack.
the Vichy were able to get 100(s) of aircraft there, refueling in Athens, any idea what route they used? (have not seen any mention that they requested any permissions to use Turkish airspace.)
they later evacuated to Rhodes.
the troops sent to reinforce were unable to contract for commercial ship to make final leg of trip from Greece and they had at least expectation of being transported by air by LW (which was fumbled.)
my point is not that Axis logistical issues disappear in Syria, but that from there they could exert huge economic pressure on Turkey (already not hostile to Axis side) and that no such option existed with Egypt.
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