On 11 May 2013, two car bombs exploded in the Turkish town of Reyhanlı, a town of 64,000 people, 5 km from the Syrian border and the busiest land border post with Syria, in Hatay Province, Turkey. At least 52 people were killed and 140 injured in the attack.
Turkish authorities accused the government of Syria of being behind the bombings, and within two weeks had charged 12 Turkish nationals who it said were backed by the Syrian government. The state-run Anadolu news agency reported that in February 2018, a Turkish court sentenced nine suspects to life imprisonment and 13 other people to prison terms of 10 to 15 years for the bombings; and that in September 2018 another suspect was captured in Syria and brought to Turkey by Turkish intelligence.
The Syrian government denied responsibility for the attacks. Other groups proposed as culprits include al-Nusra Front, the Islamic State, and Syrian Resistance.
Following the bombings, hundreds of Syrians fled Reyhanli, and some residents blamed the Turkish government for bringing the Syrian Civil War to the town.
Reyhanlı is a town of 64,000 people in the far south of Turkey in Hatay Province, 5 km from the Turkey-Syria border and close to the busiest land border post with Syria, the Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing.
Many Syrian refugees have passed through the town while fleeing from the Syrian Civil War. The nearby Cilvegözü–Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing, which is controlled on the Syrian side by rebels, is the busiest crossing point between the two countries.
On 3 October 2012, mortar fire from Syria killed five people in the Turkish border town of Akçakale. On 11 February 2013, the gate of the Cilvegözü–Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing was the scene of a deadly attack, when an explosion killed 17 people and injured 30 more.
Two car bombs were left outside Reyhanlı's town hall and post office. The first exploded at around 13:45 EEST (10:45 UTC), and the second about five minutes later. People attempting to help those injured in the first explosion were caught in the second blast.
A Cumhuriyet journalist reported controversy over the number of fatalities. It was suspected by some news sources that government and local officials had instructed local health care workers to limit the death toll to 50, while the real number was 177.
While some Syrian refugees were caught in the blasts, the majority of the fatalities involved were local Turks. Although there is still no information about the names of the dead, local officials revealed their nationalities, and stated that 5 of 52 people killed by the attacks were Syrian.
Several options have been raised for the responsibility for the attack:
Syrian government – Mukhabarat
On Saturday, 11 May 2013, Turkey's two Deputy Prime Ministers Bülent Arınç and Besir Atalay said "the Syrian Mukhabarat and armed organizations are the usual suspects in planning and the carrying out of such devilish plans", and Turkish sources accused Syria of being "behind the attacks". Syria, according to information minister Omran al-Zoubi, immediately denied responsibility for the attacks, stating: "Syria [...] would never commit such an act because our values would not allow that."
On 11 May, Turkish authorities said they had detained nine Turks with links to the Syrian Mukhabarat (military intelligence service) as suspects in the bombings.
On 13 May, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that he held the Syrian government responsible. By 21 May, Turkey had charged 12 Turkish nationals with the attacks, which they alleged were backed by the Syrian government. On 25 May, Erdogan repeated his accusation that the Syrian regime was behind the attack.
Nasır Eskiocak, a Turkish national captured by the Turkish police on 10 June 2013 and for a while the prime suspect of the attack, said the attack was ordered by the Syrian Mukhabarat, and then organized by him.
On 12 September 2018, the Turkish National Intelligence Organization announced that they had captured Yusuf Nazik, who they alleged is one of the main suspects of the 2013 bombing. He was captured by Turkish intelligence in the Syrian regime-controlled city of Latakia. Nazik, born in the Antakya district of the province of Hatay, confessed in a video-recorded confession that he played a key part in the bombing as a coordinator between the bombers and the Syrian regime, which he said masterminded the attack. He referred to a Syrian intelligence officer named Mohammed, who had the codename "Hadji".
Between 2022 and 2025, Turkish Intelligence captured remaining suspects of the bombing except Mihrac Ural.