Is Turkey trying to disrupt Raqqa operation?
In the lead-up to President Erdogan's Washington visit next month, Turkey's recent air attacks in Syria and Iraq might be a message that Turkey intends to play a more involved role in those countries.
Turkey appears to be hoping that its bombing this week of Sinjar in Iraq and Rojava in northern Syria will enable it to intervene in those countries on a larger scale.
Since Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield in Syria in August 2016, attacks against organizations linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Syria and Iraq have always been on the agenda. Harassment artillery fire on Rojava, an autonomous but unrecognized Kurdish area, has been constant. After the coalition of countries battling the Islamic State (IS) decided to exclude Turkey from a pending operation to retake Raqqa in Syria, Turkey's massing of troops on the border has signaled its intentions.
