The North Atlantic Treaty, also referred to as the Washington Treaty, is the treaty that forms the legal basis of, and is implemented by, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949.
The spillover of the Syrian Civil War is the impact of the Syrian Civil War in the Arab world and beyond. Since the first protests during the Arab Spring, the increasingly violent Syrian Civil War has been both a proxy war for the major Middle Eastern powers, Turkey and Iran, and a potential launching point for a wider regional war. Fears of the latter were realized when the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a Salafi Jihadist militant group and alleged former al-Qaeda affiliate, established itself in Syria in 2013, and later combined with the War in Iraq (2013–2017) into a single conflict the following year. The spillover of the Syrian Civil War is often dubbed the Arab Winter.
In response to rapid territorial gains made by the so-called Islamic State during the first half of 2014, and its universally condemned executions, reported human rights abuses and the fear of further spillovers of the Syrian Civil War, many states began to intervene against it in both the Syrian Civil War and the War in Iraq. Later, there were also minor interventions by some states against IS-affiliated groups in Nigeria and Libya.
The American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War refers to the American-led support of Syrian rebels and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) during the course of the Syrian civil war, including Operation Inherent Resolve, the active military operation led by the United States, and involving the militaries of the United Kingdom, France, Jordan, Turkey, Canada, Australia, and others against the Islamic State (IS) and al-Nusra Front since 2014. Beginning in 2017–18, the U.S. and its partners have also targeted the Syrian government and its allies via airstrikes and aircraft shoot-downs, mainly in defense of either the SDF or the Revolutionary Commando Army opposition group based in al-Tanf.
The siege of Kobanî was launched by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on 13 September 2014, in order to capture the Kobanî Canton and its main city of Kobanî in northern Syria, in the de facto autonomous region of Rojava.
Turkey's involvement in the Syrian civil war began diplomatically and later escalated militarily. Initially, Turkey condemned the Syrian government at the outbreak of civil unrest in Syria during the spring of 2011; the Turkish government's involvement gradually evolved into military assistance for the Free Syrian Army in July 2011, border clashes in 2012, and direct military interventions in 2016–17, in 2018, in 2019, 2020, and in 2022. The military operations have resulted in the Turkish occupation of northern Syria since August 2016.
Kobanî, officially Ayn al-Arab, is a Kurdish-majority city in northern Syria, lying immediately south of the Syria–Turkey border. As a consequence of the Syrian civil war, the city came under the control of the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in 2012 and became the administrative center of the Kobani Canton, later transformed into Euphrates Region of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.
The Suruç bombing was a suicide attack by the Turkish sect of Islamic State named Dokumacılar against Turkish leftists that took place in the Suruç district of Şanlıurfa Province in Turkey on 20 July 2015, outside the Amara Culture Centre. A total of 34 people were killed and 104 were reported injured. Most victims were members of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) Youth Wing and the Socialist Youth Associations Federation (SGDF), university students who were giving a press statement on their planned trip to reconstruct the Syrian border town of Kobanî.
The 2015 Diyarbakır rally bombings occurred on 5 June 2015 in Diyarbakır, Turkey, during an electoral rally of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) at 17:55 local time. The bombing took place two days before the June 2015 general election and killed 5 supporters, injuring over 100. A suspect known to be close to ISIL was arrested on June 6 in Gaziantep. By August, suspicions as for the perpetrators had continued to lie on ISIL.
The IS-related terrorist attacks in Turkey refers to a series of attacks and clashes between Turkey and the Islamic State (IS) as part of the spillover of the Syrian Civil War. Turkey joined the international military intervention against the Islamic State in 2016, after ISIL attacks in Turkey. The Turkish Armed Forces' Operation Euphrates Shield was partly aimed at IS, and part of the Turkish occupation of northern Syria, around Jarabulus and al-Bab, was conquered from IS.
The Dokumacılar was a Turkish organisation linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) that specifically targeted the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) that were fighting against ISIL in the Syrian Civil War. The organisation, thought to have been formed of around 60 Turkish militants who joined ISIL, was linked to both the 2015 Diyarbakır rally bombings that killed 4 people and the 2015 Suruç bombing that killed 32 people.
The 2015 police raids in Turkey were a series of police raids conducted by the General Directorate of Security in 16 different Provinces of Turkey. The July 20th, 2015 Suruç bombing in Suruç killed 32 Kurds. Claimed by ISIS, it was perceived by Kurdish militants as a collaboration between ISIS and Turkey security services, leading to a series of revenge attacks on Turkish policemen and military positions in Adıyaman and Ceylanpınar. The Ceylanpınar incidents saw the assassination of 2 policemen by operatives of disputed affiliation, attributed to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and became the Casus belli for Turkey operations in both Turkey and Iraq.
Operation Martyr Yalçın was a military operation conducted by the Turkish Air Force against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) positions in Syria, and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) positions in northern Iraq, on 24 and 25 July 2015.
In late July 2015, the third phase of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict between various Kurdish insurgent groups and the Turkish government erupted, following a failed two and a half year-long peace process aimed at resolving the long-running conflict.
On 10 October 2015 at 10:04 local time (EEST) in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, two bombs were detonated outside Ankara Central railway station. With a death toll of 109 civilians, the attack surpassed the 2013 Reyhanlı bombings as the deadliest terror attack in Turkish history. Another 500 people were injured. Censorship monitoring group Turkey Blocks identified nationwide slowing of social media services in the aftermath of the blasts, described by rights group Human Rights Watch as an "extrajudicial" measure to restrict independent media coverage of the incident.
Controversies during the Turkish general election of November 2015 mainly centred on the escalating violence in the south-east and the rise in domestic terrorist attacks linked to both the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). International concerns also grew over an increase in media censorship, with the government being accused of specifically targeting news outlets known to be close to the Gülen Movement such as Kanaltürk and Bugün TV. Safety concerns due to the escalating conflict resulted in the government proposing to merge ballot boxes in affected areas and to transport them to safer locations, though the opposition criticised the move as an attempt to decrease the votes of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which polled strongly in the June 2015 general election.
The August 15, 2018 Turkish airstrikes on Sinjar were two airstrikes on İsmail Özden, a leading member of the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ). Four others were killed in the airstrike.
Operation Active Fence is an active and ongoing NATO operation to protect the Turkish southern border region with Syria as part of the ongoing Syrian Civil War.
The Ceylanpınar incident saw the killing of two policemen in Ceylanpınar, Turkey, which led to the resumption of the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. The attack was used by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government as a casus belli to end the otherwise largely successful 2013-2015 solution process and resume its war against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). As the AKP had failed to win a majority in the June 2015 Turkish general election the month before, and soon after the resumption of hostilities announced the November 2015 Turkish snap general election, analysts believe that the Ceylanpınar killings and return to war have been used to increase Turkish nationalist fervor and favored the ruling party taking back control over the Turkish parliament. Other motives have also been advanced, with the Syrian war encouraging extremist parties from both sides to undermine peace efforts by increasing nationalism and readiness for war.
The American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War is the United States-led support of Syrian opposition and the Federation of Northern Syria during the course of the Syrian Civil War and active military involvement led by the United States and its allies — the militaries of the United Kingdom, France, Jordan, Turkey, Canada, Australia and more — against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Nusra Front since 2014. Since early 2017, the U.S. and other Coalition partners have also targeted the Syrian government and its allies via airstrikes and aircraft shoot-downs.
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