Turkey's gains from Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria are greater than its losses. 

The Turkish Defense Ministry announced after an Oct. 22 meeting between the Russian and Turkish presidents in Sochi that a new operation in northern Syria was not needed and that Turkey's two-week Operation Peace Spring had concluded. A post-mortem is now needed, as well as a discussion on what comes next militarily and diplomatically.

Was the operation's political objective achieved? According to Turkish decision-makers, the operation had two political goals. First, Turkey sought to control the terrain stretching from the northeastern Syrian town of Kobani to the Iraqi border and create a safe zone 30 kilometers (18 miles) deep. Second, Turkey aimed to eliminate the military capacity of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey and other Western powers consider a terrorist organization. Turkey currently controls the land between Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ain stretching to the strategic M4 highway in the south. The size of the area under Turkish control amounts to some 20% of Turkey’s goal.

According to data provided by the Turkish Defense Ministry, Turkey has neutralized some 702 militants, comprising about 1% of 70,000 YPG militants.