Regardless of progress made towards the defeat of ISIL, the actors involved in Syria remain hostile to one another.

As the armed conflict deepens in Turkey, political leaders are burning political bridges needed to end the violence.

The YPG may seem to be good allies on paper, but if Syria’s central regions are alienated it may cause more trouble.

Ankara welcomed the news of Assad’s defeat in Idlib but it may have come with a price.

Turkey appears to have overlooked the anger bubbling among its own Kurds towards its Syria policy.

Ankara won’t intervene in Kobane – or elsewhere in Syria – unless the anti-ISIL operation hits Assad

Even if ISIL is halted before it reaches Baghdad, it has left virtually every regional actor scrambling for a response.