Obviously, the liberation of the city was not problematic for the Turkish military; according to the Turkish Defense Ministry, only one FSA fighter has been killed during the “Euphrates Shield” operation. The Syrian civil war has been raging for over five years, and there are still no winners in sight. On the contrary – new actors are becoming involved in the conflict day by day – this week the Turkish army also joined the fray, by intervening in the Syrian city of Jarablus to support Free Syrian Army militants and fight against Islamic State (ISIS).

Jarablus is a vital supply line for ISIS and one of its last remaining strongholds on the border. Every actor in the Jarablus operation is fighting for its own reasons. Turkey certainly sought to weaken ISIS, which has shelled Turkish territory and carried out a series of terrorist attacks – including a suicide bombing in the southern city of Gaziantep just last weekend which killed 54 people at a wedding. Continue reading →