In this presentation, I argue that masculine anxieties over sovereignty have dominated the Syrian government-sponsored media framing of the country’s relations with Turkey. Through an analysis of two Syrian TV series, and a textual study of the Syrian press since 2011, I argue that historical memories about Turkish domination reproduce masculinized national anxieties over Turkish entry into Syria, whether framed as a breach of sovereignty or state-sanctioned invitation. I analyse the biggest Syrian TV series production in the 1990s, “Brothers of the Soil” (1997), which tells a grim story about the end of the Ottoman Empire. The series, shown at a time when bilateral relations were at the brink of war, portrayed Syrian men as forced to serve in the Ottoman army and at the mercy of its generals. The most vivid scene in the series dramatizes in detail Ottoman soldiers killing Syrians by the infamous impalement torture method (death by penetration of stake or spear). That scene circulated again as a viral YouTube clip since 2011 following Turkish support for Syrian opposition and rebel groups. In fact, since 2011, the word impalement has been a popular description of Turkey’s foreign policy in editorials in the official Syrian press. Before the Syrian War, from 2000 to 2011, when bilateral relations witnessed unprecedented levels of cooperation and openness, masculine anxieties over sovereignty in Syria took a different form. The biggest Syrian soap opera production that dramatized the Ottoman era, “People of the Banner” (2010), showed a Syrian protagonist who had voluntarily joined the Ottoman army (rather than being forced to serve). Though he gets mistreated by an Ottoman officer, a Turkish lady (a general’s daughter) falls in love with him and helps to rescue him— as if restoring honour to the Syrian man. The 2000s also saw the immense popularity of Turkish soaps dubbed into Syrian Arabic. However, following 2011, the Syrian official press reversed positive portrayals of Turkey and made direct links between TV series and foreign policy by claiming that Ankara “betrayed” Damascus even though the latter opened up to Turkey and facilitated its entry into Arab homes through television.