Afrin, Syria

Turkey has "successfully accomplished" its months-old military operation into northern Syria, but troops will not be withdrawn soon from the regions under Ankara's control as it seeks ensure life returns to normal in the area, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said.

Turkey summoned Russia's chargé d'affaires to the Foreign Ministry on March 22 to express Ankara's reaction after the killing of a Turkish soldier by alleged Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) elements on the Syrian border. 

Russia's Defense Ministry has denied reports that Moscow is building a military base in Afrin, but Ankara is not convinced by Russia's comments on the matter, even as it has shied away from publicly responding to Moscow over its developing alliance with Syrian Kurds.

The commando brigade was not fighting in the field when 14 of its members were killed and 55 of them, six of them seriously, were injured in the Central Anatolian town of Kayseri on Dec. 17. Just one week before, our hearts were bleeding for the victims of the terror attack in Istanbul's Beşiktaş. 

The United States is not concerned with Turkey's efforts to keep terror groups from posing a threat to its border, U.S. commander of the anti-Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) coalition said on Dec. 14. 

Five shells fired from the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Unit (YPG)-controlled Afrin region of Syria hit empty land in the border province of Hatay on Oct. 20, triggering retaliatory fire against YPG militia targets in Afrin, the Turkish Armed Forces have stated. 

Turkey is living through extraordinary times, I would say, and the readers would ask, "When it was not?" Indeed, this country has always been at some sort of a critical junction. Yet, was it ever in a position like the situation we are in now? 

Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militants opened fire on a Turkish border post on Sept. 7 and Turkish soldiers returned fire, Turkish military officials in the region said on Sept. 8. 

Turkey's cross-border operation inside Syria to clear the area from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has entered its second week, and one wonders whether the Free Syrian Army (FSA) may even walk all the way to Damascus in front of the Turkish army. After all, it has faced very little resistance on the way to capturing the Azaz-Jarablus corridor.

Turkey's development minister has paid a visit to the southeastern town of Silopi, which has seen severe damage during recent clashes between security forces and outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.