Operation Euphrates Shield

At 4 am on August 24, 2016 Turkey launched a military incursion into Syria. The invasion was named Operation Euphrates Shield. Speculation about the operation had started already in February 2016.



Reports of civilian casualties

 * August 27, village Til-Emarne 8 km south of Jarablus, "many" civilians killed and wounded by artillery and warplane fire
 * August 28, village Bir Al-Kûsa 13 km south of Jarablus, 20+ civilians killed and dozens wounded by artillery and warplane fire
 * August 28, village Sirêsat east of Bir Al-Kûsa, "tens" of civilians "massacred" by artillery and warplane fire
 * August 29, "dozens of villages" north of Sajur river targeted by artillery, incl. Dandania where five civilians including three children die. The village was allegedly attacked with chemical weapons on August 25.

Reactions

 * World Bulletin Foreign ministries of Germany, France voice guarded support for Turkish moves against terrorists
 * DIPLOMATIC REACTIONS TO TURKISH INTERVENTION IN SYRIA - SouthFront, August 24, 2016
 * Syrian Foreign Ministry says Turkey violates country’s sovereignty, TASS, August 24, 2016
 * TASS, August 24, 2016
 * ''Moscow is deeply worried over the ongoing events in the area of the Syrian-Turkish border," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "First and foremost very worrisome is the risk of a further deterioration of the situation in the zone of the conflict, including the possibility of civilian casualties it may entail and the soaring inter-ethnic contradictions between the Kurds and the Arabs."We are certain that the Syrian crisis can be settled exclusively on the firm basis of international law, through a wide intra-Syrian dialog encompassing all ethnic and religious groups, including the Kurds, on the basis of the Geneva communique of June 30, 2012, Resolution 2254 and other decisions by the UN Security Council, adopted at the initiative of the International Syria Support Group,
 * Statement by KONGRA-GEL (People's Congress of Kurdistan), August 26, 2016:
 * Panicked in the face of the SDF forces' advance to the north after the Manbij victory, Turkish state took over Jarablus from ISIS in an arranged act, and handed it over to the FSA gangs affiliated to itself. The ISIS that resisted SDF forces for 75 days in Manbij, handed Jarablus over to FSA gangs guided by Turkish special forces in two hours. In other words, Turkish state did its mission of handover between gangs affiliated to itself without any clashes taking place. Even this single incident itself reveals the organic tie between Turkey and ISIS.

Analysis

 * Turkey does not attack ISIS; ISIS hands over villages to other gangs, Firat News Agency, August 24, 2016
 * Turkey's Jarablus Gamble, Seyit Evran, Firat News Agency, August 24, 2016
 * Turkey Crosses Into Syria: Unipolar Conspiracy Or Multipolar Coordination? - Andrew Korybko, Katheon, August 24, 2016
 * Turkey Invades Northern Syria – Operation Euphrates Shield Afra Dagher, Activist Post, August 24, 2016
 * The Turkish Operation in Northern Syria was Agreed Upon with Russia - Katheon, August 24, 2016
 * Turkey 'Could not Have Launched Jarablus Operation Without Russia’s Consent' - Sputnik, August 26, 2016
 * The Turkish Invasion Of Syria: Who Is Behind It And Why - Brandon Turbeville, Activist Post, August 26, 2016
 * Turkey has gone further than promised in Syria, says Moscow - translated from the Kommersant by RBH, August 26, 2016
 * ''Ankara is carrying out a full-scale ground operation in Syria. This format has not been coordinated with Moscow and threatens to undermine the warming of Russian-Turkish relations.
 * Russia and Turkey: An end to the rapprochement? - Alexander Mercouris, The Duran, August 26, 2016
 * ''The Turkish incursion into Syria does not wreck the recent Russian - Turkish rapprochement because it is only a limited rapprochement not a realignment. In the meantime Russia is working hard to reconcile the Syrian government with the Kurds.
 * Two Birds With One Stone: US 'Sacrifices' Its Kurdish Allies in Syria - Sputnik, August 27, 2016
 * ''By sacrificing its Kurdish allies in northern Syria, Washington wants to mend relations with Ankara and prevent Turkey from strengthening its ties with Moscow, thus far killing two birds with one stone, expert on Middle Eastern affairs Jean Perier believes.
 * Turkey’s Syria Intervention - Joshua Landis, August 28, 2016
 * Anatomy of the Turkish Invasion: Official Narrative vs. True Objectives - Brian Kalman, SouthFront, August 29, 2016
 * Putin and Erdogan have agreed on a restricted road map in Syria: the Kurds and Nusra will be the main losers - Elijah J. Magnier, Al Rai, August 30, 2016