Foreign military interventions Chronology in Syria’s conflict

SEVERAL foreign militaries have intervened in the Syrian conflict since it erupted in 2011, further complicating the battleground.

Here is an overview of the powers involved:

- Turkey: Syria’s neighbour Turkey has been involved in the Syrian conflict since 2011, hosting the political opposition and officials representing the armed opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.

From August 2016 to March 2017 it carried out an offensive in northern Syria aimed at fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia as well as the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.

The West for several years backed the YPG, a

crucial force in the defeat of IS.

However Ankara considers the militia to be a “terrorist” offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging a bloody insurgency in Turkey for three decades.

The intervention allowed Turkey to create a buffer between Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria.