Is Turkey falling into its own Syrian trap?
Kurds may be avoiding combat with Turkey, Syria's reaction could be restrained and the Islamic State might have withdrawn without a fight, but Ankara could still get stuck in a quagmire.
The sentiment in Turkey is that, with "Operation Euphrates Shield," the country has made a thunderous return to the Middle East. But in a topography where nobody knows who is fighting who and what will tomorrow's alliances look like, there are serious traps awaiting Turkey.
During the first week of the operation, Turkey's target shifted from the Islamic State (IS) to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). While IS withdrew from Jarablus without fighting and still occupies scores of other places, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and allied groups continued their advances toward areas the SDF had liberated from IS.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Aug. 29 said the operations will continue "until the YPG [People's Protection Units] is no longer a threat."
The equation that has cropped up is that groups supported by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), accompanied by Turkish tanks, are clashing with groups backed by the US military.
