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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Paradigm Shift in Syria After Afrin |
| 2018-04-01 |
| by Michael Goodyear [SmallWarsJournal] On March 18, after two months of the Turkish military repeatedly shelling the Kurdish-held city of Afrin, Turkish-backed Syrian rebels occupied the city. Turkey’s campaign into Syria began a year and a half ago, initially focusing on uprooting the Islamic State. But with the sharp decline in power of the Islamic State following the fall of its de facto capital, Raqqa, Turkey has redirected its focus onto Kurdish forces in Syria. The capture of Afrin creates another power shift in Syria in favor of both Turkey and the Assad government, as well as possibly the Islamic State, at the expense of the Kurds but also the rebels. The Syrian civil war has been anything but one-sided from the very start. The Assad regime (government forces), the loosely connected Syrian rebels (anti-government forces), the Kurds and assorted allies (Syrian Democratic Forces), and the Islamic State are the four major military factions in Syria. Their fortunes have been greatly aided and hindered by the support and opposition of foreign powers, including the United States, Russia, and Turkey. |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #3 The martial opera The New Ottoman Empire Marches, Act II: Turkish Republic of North Syria is being enacted as we watch. Please don't confuse it with Act I: Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, the two names have nothing in common! (/sarc) Somebody is going to have to go to war, as in War-War, with Erdogan eventually I am afraid. Like the French Bourbon Kings he just isn't going to stop on his own. |
| Posted by: magpie 2018-04-01 07:07 |
| #2 were any Moslems involved? Are any Moslems dead and maimed? Hmm. Well, I am going to have my breakfast and enjoy my coffee. No end in sight. Could go on, well...indefinitely. Pass the salt. |
| Posted by: Harcourt Gurly-Brown1045 2018-04-01 05:07 |
| #1 Afrin is still very hot for Turkey and their FSA mercenaries. Almost 50 FSA and Turk troops were killed in Afrin yesterday alone as well as a Turk tank was taken out. IED's explosions are a daily event against the Turk/FSA forces in Afrin. One Brit fighting for the YPG was killed in the fighting 2 days ago. |
| Posted by: Ulaigum Ebbineng7056 2018-04-01 00:54 |