Why the Turkey-Syria border conflict is a ‘proxy war’ for US-Russia
In Depth: America sidelined as Nato ally Turkey attacks US-backed Kurdish fighters

Ankara today announced its first two combat deaths in Turkey’s clash with US-backed Kurdish fighters south of the border in Syria - a battle many see as a proxy war pitting Russian military might against a weakened America.
“Relations between Turkey and Russia have been gradually getting closer in the context of the Syria conflict, whereas tensions have been rising between Ankara and Washington, which backs the Kurdish fighters in northern Syria,” reports Al Jazeera.
The armed conflict began on Saturday and pits America against its fellow Nato member in a territory where US diplomatic ties have been sorely tested already by the wars in Syria and Iraq.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“The Turkish offensive, carried out over the protests of the US but with the apparent assent of Russia, marks a perilous new phase in relations between two Nato allies - bringing their interests into direct conflict on the battlefield,” The New York Times says. “It lays bare how much leverage the United States has lost in Syria, where its single-minded focus has been on vanquishing Islamist militants.”
The ties that bind
Historically, Russia has supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has waged a seven-year war against the dual threat of Islamic State militants and the Syrian rebels who want to overthrow his regime.
And now Moscow has entered into an “agreement” with Ankara on the border war against US-backed Kurdish fighters, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday.
The US, meanwhile, supported Syrian rebels trying to overthrow Assad during the Obama regime - although the Trump administration appears to have pulled back from such covert operations, The Atlantic magazine reports.
Crucially, however, the US announced plans last week to train up a 30,000-strong border protection force in northern Syria to prevent Isis from returning. That border force will consist mainly of members of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) - considered by the Turkish government to be a terrorist group.
Offensive Olive Branch
President Erdogan has accused the US of building an “army of terror” on his border. After threatening to drown the US-backed forces, Erdogan launched “Offensive Olive Branch” in northwestern Syria this weekend.
The bloody conflict has so far left 50 people dead during three days of intense shelling and air strikes, The Guardian reports.
It has also left the US watching from the sidelines, The New York Times reports, while Russia aligns itself with Turkey and accuses the US of encouraging the Kurds and aggravating the Syrian conflict.
So far, the Turkish border operations are confined to targets around Afrin, a region about 30 miles north of Aleppo that is of limited strategic concern to the US.
Syrian expert Andrew J. Tabler told the newspaper that the big question is whether Turkey will push further into Syria.
“That could bring Turkey into conflict with the main force of Kurds, and even potentially, with American troops,” Tabler said.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The 50-year battle for Western Sahara
The Explainer UK is latest country to back Moroccan plan to end decades-long dispute with Algerian-backed Polisario Front
-
What It Feels Like for a Girl: a 'fearless and compelling' coming-of-age drama
The Week Recommends Ellis Howard dazzles in this 'sharply written' adaptation of Paris Lees' memoir
-
Sports betting is causing athletes to be abused and harassed online
Under the radar Baseball players, tennis stars and others have raised the alarm
-
Kurdish PKK militia to disband for Turkey talks
speed read The Kurdistan Workers' Party will disarm after four decades of armed conflict with Turkey, putting an end to 'one of the longest insurgencies in the Middle East'
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designation
The Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
-
Turkey arrests Istanbul mayor, a top Erdogan rival
Speed Read Protests erupted in Turkey after authorities detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
-
Is the pro-Assad insurgency a threat to the new Syria?
Today's Big Question Interim leader accuses regime loyalists and 'foreign backers' of trying to 'divide and destroy' the country