Operation Euphrates Shield
Operation Euphrates Shield (Turkish: Fırat Kalkanı Harekâtı) was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces in the Syrian Civil War which led to the Turkish occupation of northern Syria. Operations were carried out in the region between the Euphrates river to the east and the rebel-held area around Azaz to the west. The Turkish military and Turkey-aligned Syrian rebel groups, some of which used the Free Syrian Army label, fought against the forces of the Islamic State (IS) as well as against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from 24 August 2016. On 29 March 2017, the Turkish military officially announced that Operation Euphrates Shield was "successfully completed".[13]
The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on the first day of the operation that it was aimed against both the IS and Syrian Kurdish "terror groups that threaten our country in northern Syria".[68] The objective to capture Manbij, under the de facto control of the AANES administration, that had been promulgated by the Turkish president at the end of February 2017[69] remained unfulfilled.
Preparations[edit]
Reportedly,[82] Turkey had prepared battle plans for the intervention more than a year prior. On 9 May 2016, a plan was reportedly proposed by the US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar to have the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement form a "Northern Army" to gather more than 3,000 fighters for the operation. The next phase was to transfer the fighters from Idlib to northern Aleppo through the Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing and the Azaz border crossing. This reportedly began on 13 May.[83] However, the plan was delayed due to doubts from U.S. officials about the capabilities of the Syrian rebel forces that Turkey had recruited to fight with its military, opposition from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, and the rift between Turkey and Russia that was not mended until early August 2016.[84]
On 20 August 2016, a large number of rebels and a military convoy containing more than 50 vehicles loaded with heavy and medium weapons from al-Rai were transferred to the Turkish border with Jarabulus.[85] On 22 August, as a response to the Gaziantep bombing and two mortar shells launched by ISIL hitting the town of Karkamış adjacent to Jarabulus, the Turkish Land Forces launched 60 artillery shells at Islamic State positions in Jarabulus while simultaneously bombarding Manbij Military Council positions farther south in order to prevent them from advancing further to the north.[86] Karkamış was soon evacuated and cleared of its residents. The Morning Star reported that Turkey continued to shell ISIL positions in Jarabulus after two mortar rounds hit Karkamış and three hit Kilis.[87] On 23 August, Turkey shelled Islamic State territory in northern Syria again. IS responded by firing rockets into Turkey.[88]
The Turkey-backed rebels under the brand of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) that took part in the offensive comprised mainly Syrian Turkmen, mostly in the Syrian Turkmen Brigades.[89][90] During the offensive, FSA militants of Turkmen origin used light blue armbands, a color which is often used as a symbol of Turkic heritage; meanwhile, the rebels of Arab origin mainly used red ones.[89][91][92]
The SDF have said that MIT assassinated Abdel Sattar al-Jader, the leader of the Jarabulus Military Council (a component of the SDF), just prior to the operation.[77]
Turkey: Turkey Justified the operation as an act of , in response to ISIS shelling of Turkish border towns and suicide bombings and attacks targeting Turkish nationals and also that "Our border must be completely cleansed of Daesh (ISIS)".[264] while Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik stated that "preventing the PYD party from uniting the PYD cantons east of Jarabulus with those further west was a priority."[265] Turkish foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, said that YPG should return east of Syria's Euphrates River. Both Manbij and Jarabulus are west of the river.[266] On 25 August 2016, the largest opposition party in Turkey, Republican People's Party (CHP), publicly supported Operation Euphrates Shield, calling it "long overdue", while "calling on the government to engage in a sincere fight against ISIL, not just in Jarabulus, but inside our own borders".[267] On 2 September 2016, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that "the PYD forces had not yet retreated to the east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria despite statements by the US that the group was withdrawing." Furthermore, claimed that Turkey's operation into Jarabulus was not an incursion and it was conducted to resettle the local Arab and Turkmen population back into their towns.[268]
