As US President Donald Trump is deciding who he wants to be involved alongside the United States in the operation to take Raqqa, Syria, from the Islamic State (IS), all the players on the Syrian stage are struggling to grab the most advantageous position. Meanwhile, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is benefiting from a perceptible increase in US military support, is advancing to the north and northeast of Raqqa.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), supported by Turkmen and Islamist militias it has recruited, finally entered al-Bab on Feb. 23 when IS appeared to have withdrawn. The Syrian army, in a move that eliminated Turkey’s intended route to Raqqa, blocked the corridor between Manbij — where the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) support the local military council — and the area controlled by the Syrian army northeast of Aleppo.

In all this imbroglio, there has been much speculation about Turkey's next move. As the al-Bab operation was going on, Turkish officials were consistently saying that after al-Bab, Manbij would be the next target, to be followed by Raqqa. But after the capture of al-Bab, Turkish official sources switched to declaring that the next target after al-Bab would be Raqqa.

When Turkish officials were pointing to Raqqa as their next objective, the Syrian army had not yet severed the road connection between al-Bab and Raqqa. The closure of that route left Turkey with three alternatives to reach Raqqa: Manbij, Kobani and Tell Abyad. But the Kurds and their allies control all of these locations. If Turkey insists on hitting Raqqa first, it will have to fight the Kurds and their allies.