ANKARA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Turkey will mark on Thursday the first anniversary of launching "Operation Euphrates Shield" in Syria, which cleared the towns of Jarablus, al-Rai, and al-Bab from the IS group and prevented the area being taken by the Kurdish militia.
"Operation Euphrates Shield" in Syria was a military movement to clear the Azaz - Jarablus line of its border with Syria from the threat of Islamic State (IS) and to prevent the Syrian Kurdish militia merging in Afrin and Kobane regions from establishing a "Kurdish belt."
On Aug. 24, 2016, Turkish troops, artillery, and tanks were surprisingly deployed in northern Syria although Turkey's army was just shaken by an attempted military coup on July 15 last year.
Turkish Armed Forces started its military operation in Syria following a suicide attack by the IS group that killed 59 civilians in the border city of Gaziantep on Aug. 20, 2016.
The offensive took 216 days and finalized on March 29, 2017, and Turkey lost 67 soldiers, along with nearly 600 members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) of the rebels, many killed in suicide attacks by the IS.
Three of the Turkish soldiers dead after Syrian warplanes hit the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) military post near Al-Bab town on Nov. 24, 2016. Three other Turkish soldiers were killed in another airstrike by Russian jet on Feb. 9, 2017, near al-Bab town "by mistake."
Turkish backed Syrian rebels killed more than 3,000 IS members, but the TSK gave serious causality in the strategically important northern Syria town al-Bab, in months-long battle against the jihadist group.
The defeat of the IS in al-Bab is deemed critical for the upcoming offensive into Raqqa, the group's Syrian stronghold and de facto capital of its self-declared caliphate.
Turkey's move to take the al-Bab town, an important stop on the road between Aleppo and Raqqa, turned it into a potential flashpoint among the actors fighting in the war-torn country.
The Syrian regime was pushing from the north, while Russian, the United States and Turkish warplanes were flying in the same area and the U.S.-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) forces were also advancing.
The operation's next target after the liberation of al-Bab was Manbij town to clear the YPG, the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), from the area, Turkish leadership said several times.
Ankara warned against the advance of the YPG into Manbij, saying the town has a predominantly Arab population.
Ankara considers the YPG an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed as a terror organization by the United States, Turkey and the EU.
Yet, Turkey could not move to Manbij region over objections by both the United States and Russia.
Within the scope of the Euphrates Shield, Turkish army and the rebels have taken control of approximately 250 settlements and 2,015 square km area.
The operation cleared the towns of Jarablus, al-Rai, and al-Bab from the IS group and prevented the area being taken by the Kurdish militia.
Turkey pushed the jihadist group away from its territory and ended the physical access to the Turkish border, stopped abuse of it for the transport of militants, weapons, and smuggling.
The loss of one of its main extortion centers under the cover of "taxation" had caused the IS group lose hundreds of millions in revenues.
As a matter of fact, Turkey had been calling for a safe-zone inside northern Syria, backed up with a no-fly zone, as it is currently hosting nearly 3 million refugees who fled the over five-year civil war.
However, the U.S. had fallen on deaf ears on Turkey's request despite a deal to clear the region of the jihadist group.
The TSK keeps its military base positions in the "liberated" area and from time to time exchanges fire with the YPG forces the town of Azaz in northern Syria.
The TSK identifies the attacks as "retaliation in kind against the harassing fire" from the Kurdish militia in Afrin region.
Up to 8,000 Turkish troops were fighting in al-Bab at the peak of the Euphrates Shield operation, but the numbers have now decreased to some 1,500, according to Turkish officials.
Turkey has been training Syrian police and gendarmerie forces for the security of the liberated area between Azaz and Jarablus, meanwhile working on development projects for resettlement of Syrians in the area who fled the jihadist group.
Thousands of displaced Syrians are gradually returning to the area controlled by Turkey and Turkish-backed opposition fighters. Turkey also plans housing projects for them.
