Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s favorite slogan when defending Operation Euphrates Shield and other cross-border actions in Syria is, “If you are not in the field, then you will be on the menu.”

To be in the field, to get a place at the table, is his way of summarizing Turkey’s interventionist foreign policy that relies on hard power. Nowadays, Turkey’s activities in the Syrian turf it controls between Jarablus-Azaz and al-Bab signals it has more on its mind than combating the Islamic State (IS).

Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield on Aug. 24 with a green light from Russia, and it officially concluded it March 29 under Russian pressure. Now Ankara has resumed the operation with actions against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), in addition to its missions of restoring security and rebuilding a civilian administration. The area cleared of IS is now controlled by militias recruited by Turkey's national intelligence service (MIT) from various opposition groups. The Turkish military supports the militias in this area, where Turkey's presence looks more permanent each day.

According to Turkey’s pro-government news media, almost a million people so far have returned to their homes in the area cleared of IS, or have been relocated there from other areas. At least 200,000 of these people live in Jarablus, in the midst of myriad projects Turkey is implementing. Some 500 police trained and paid by Turkey are now on the job in that area. Turkey also has hired some Syrian legal professionals, selected in coordination with Turkey’s Ministry of Justice, to work as judges and prosecutors. Turkey’s Ministry of Education employs 500 teachers there, and its Ministry of Health has hired 20 doctors. Turkey has even involved itself in religious matters through the Turkish Religious Affairs Foundation, which has opened an office near the Azaz border crossing.