Turkey has been working to rebuild the 772-square-mile (2,000-square-kilometer) Jarablus/al-Rai/al-Bab triangle in northern Syria, dedicating funds for post-conflict reconstruction and humanitarian aid. The Islamic State (IS) was driven out of the area's 250 settlements during Operation Euphrates Shield (August 2016-March 2017).

Since March, about 70,000 Syrians have returned to the triangle from Turkey. About 100,000 more are expected to be repatriated by the end of 2017. About 45,000 of the returnees have settled in Jarablus, where Turkey’s ambitious post-conflict reconstruction efforts fall into two groups: physical construction work and society-building. Ankara has decided to make Jarablus a center of attraction in the post-IS setting and use it as a model for the rest of the region. That's why Turkey assigned experienced administrators, police chiefs and muftis (religious officials) as consultants to the Syrian decision-makers of Jarablus.

The most notable activity is the ongoing construction of more than 100 buildings in the town center, including hospitals, orphanages, police stations and children’s parks. Men working in these projects earn enough money to sustain their families. With the equipment and supplies obtained from Turkey, the town now has electricity and running water, though problems persist with sewage infrastructure. Most of the roads in the town and around it have been repaired and paved. Some 80 mosques in the triangle are under construction, 10 of them in Jarablus.

Ankara’s society-building projects at Jarablus are just as ambitious, emphasizing law and order, religious affairs and education.