BEIRUT: Turkey’s assault against Kurdish forces in the northern Syrian enclave of Afrin has further complicated the bloody and complex war raging in Syria since 2011. Syrian rebels, backed by Ankara, are fighting the powerful Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), as preparations get underway for competing sets of peace talks in Vienna and Russia.
How might the Afrin assault affect the broader conflict? What’s in store for pro-Turkey rebel groups? And what about Syrian President Bashar Assad, or Daesh (ISIS)?
Analysts try to untangle the web of competing interests.
CAN TURKEY SECURE ITS INTERESTS?Situated in Syria’s north, Afrin is a small Kurdish-controlled district with unfriendly neighbors: Turkey to the north and west, and rebels to the south and east.
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Author
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Nicholas Heras
Former Fellow, Middle East Security Program
Nicholas A. Heras is a former Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), working in the Middle East Security Program. His work focused on the analysis of complex...
