In the early 2000s, Turkish investors established two cement factories in the Syrian Arab Republic, and made plans to build a third. In 2011, when the civil war broke out, the investors repatriated upper management and suspended business activities. In 2012, Syria withdrew from the areas in which the factories were located and Kurdish forces assumed control. At that point, the Turkish investors lost any use of and control over the facilities and they essentially became inaccessible.