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Source: http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Behind-the-lines-Turkey-expands-operations-in-Syria-and-Iraq-547483
Turkey Expands Operations in Syria and Iraq
(Jerusalem Post) Jonathan Spyer - Turkey's entrance into Afrin in northern Syria gives it a contiguous area of control from Jarabulus to northern Idlib. The Turks have made clear they have no intention of handing these areas over to the Assad regime. Turkish aircraft have in recent days been in action over northern Iraq, bombing what Ankara claims to be PKK guerrillas in the Qasr-e area of Erbil province. The Turkish military is presently engaged 15 km. across the border into the Kurdish Regional Government area. Ankara has set as a strategic goal to destroy the Kurdish gains that resulted from the fragmentation of Syria and Iraq over the last half decade. The writer is a fellow at the Middle East Forum.