evidence: Complications in Syria: While Turkey has received an outpouring of support and aid from dozens of countries after the earthquake, outreach to Syria has been less enthusiastic, and analysts warn that Syrian victims may become hostages of the politics that have divided Syria for over a decade. In wake of the earthquake, Syria’s government has ramped up its calls for the removal of economic US and EU sanctions. The measures were imposed on Syria to pressure the regime into a political process that could put an end to the ongoing civil conflict. Some of the areas most impacted by the earthquake are controlled by the President Bashar al-Assad’s government, others by Turkish-backed and US-backed opposition forces, Kurdish rebels and Sunni Islamist fighters. [...] Turkey is no stranger to strong earthquakes. Seven quakes with magnitude 7.0 or greater have struck the country in the past 25 years — but Monday’s was one of the most powerful.