Tell Abyad on Syria's border with Turkey became world news after it was taken over by the People's Protection Units (YPG), the armed wing of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), and its ally Burkan al-Firat, a Free Syrian Army (FSA) brigade, from the Islamic State (IS), which had been controlling it.

The small Syrian town of 14,000 people is directly located at the Akcakale border crossing with Turkey and has served for months as the key "logistics base" of Raqqa, the town that IS had declared as its capital. During IS' reign of Tell Abyad, the Akcakale-Tell Abyad border crossing through which IS received its supplies was never closed. Tell Abyad also served strategic functions. It primarily is the most critical junction on the road that links Jazeera and Kobani, two towns that were declared as cantons by the PYD in January 2014. It is also an assembly point that dominates the northeast of the city of Aleppo. Thus, in any Western coalition operation in Aleppo, Afrin and Raqqa, Tell Abyad is of paramount importance.

The capture of Tell Abyad by the PYD and Burkan al-Firat forces in an operation coordinated with coalition air forces is the first victory against IS by coalition forces in close air support with ground forces. No such achievement has been observed in Iraq as yet.

Ankara’s worry