The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army needs to liberate al-Bab and reinforce the safe zone with moderates who left eastern Aleppo under the Turkey-Russia deal

At the end of the day, Obama did not act and the people of Syria suffered. This will continue to haunt his foreign policy legacy

The main motive of Turkish-Russian relations is the interdependence in the economy, taking into consideration that bilateral trade between the two countries is quite high.

Constitutively, the “Euphrates Shield” operation had two phases. The first phase aimed to liberate several villages and areas in the west and south of Jarabulus in order to be able to lay siege to the city. In the second phase, an offensive attack enabled the entrance of the aforementioned forces to the city center.

Without much assistance from the international community the opposition forces lost a lot of ground to DAESH. Thus the opposition was never considered a viable option in the fight against DAESH or the regime.

In recent years to figure out what Russia really wants has become the most enigmatic question in international politics to figure out what Russia really wants.

Having lost control of Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon to Iran by turning on the Muslim Brotherhood during the Arab Spring revolutions, Saudi Arabia now seeks to regain its influence over the Middle East.

At the regional level, Iran will continue to aggressively pursue opportunities to increase its influence, at least until Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which are distressed by U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East policy, are no longer troubled U.S. allies.

For the last two years, there has been an increasing attempt by the YPG to take advantage of the situation in northern Syria and move its resources to these lands.

The foreign forces providing both political and military support to terror organizations or keeping silent in the face of their terrorism in the region are as responsible as the YPG for the Ankara massacre.

It is well-known that the YPG is tactically used by the PKK as an integral part of its irregular warfare strategy both in terms of man power band military equipment in the fight against the Turkish Armed Forces in eastern Turkey.

Currently, it is has started to be perceived that in the eastern part of the Syria, YPG operations are increasingly shaping U.S. policy.

Russia's close relation with the PYD concerns both Ankara and Washington. While Ankara is concerned about weapons that the PKK could obtain, the U.S. does not want the PYD to be included under Russia's influence in the region.

The ups and downs in relations between the U.S. and Russia has resulted in the countries finding themselves on different sides of the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, and in each of these crises Russia has continued to test the U.S.'s commitments.

"The Syrian Crisis After the Russian Intervention," panel organized on Monday by the Ankara-based think tank Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA).