Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War

Turkey (Orange) and Syria (Green)

Date

5 December 2011–present
(5 years, 1 month, 4 weeks and 1 day)

Location

Syria

Status

Ongoing

Turkey experiences clashes between Syrian border troops, ISIL militants and SDF.
Turkish aid to the Syrian Opposition, and protection to Syrian Turkmen Brigades.
Turkey-Russia tensions rise as Turkey shoots downs a Russian fighter jet and Turkmen rebels down a Russian helicopter.
Syrian government forces capture most of the Turkmen Mountain with Russian military aid.
Normalisation of Russia-Turkey relations, following President Erdogan expressing regret to Vladimir Putin for the Su-24 shoot-down and apologizing to the pilot's family.
Turkish recognition of Bashar Al-Asad in part of the political solution to the conflict.
Turkish military intervention in Syria directed at Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as well as against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Belligerents

Republic of Turkey

Grey Wolves

Free Syrian Army

Syrian Turkmen Brigades (from 2012)

Army of Conquest (until 2017)

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Syrian Government

Russia

Federation of Northern Syria - Rojava

Self-Defense Forces (HXP)
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)
- People's Protection Units (YPG)
- Women's Protection Units (YPJ)
- Syriac Military Council (MFS)
- Army of Revolutionaries
- SDF military councils

Commanders and leaders

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Binali Yıldırım

Hulusi Akar

Ebu Bekir Muhammed Abbas

Ömer Abdullah

Alparslan Çelik

Albay Ahmed Berri

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Bashar al-Assad

Hediya Yousef
Mansur Selum
Adnan Abu Amjad(Manbij Military Council & Northern Sun Battalion commander)

Anwar Khabat(Euphrates Liberation Brigade commander)

Strength

685.862 military personnel, 668 aircraft

31,500 - 100,000

178,000 military personnel, 320 aircraft

Casualties and losses

Turkey:
74 servicemen killed
1 F-4 shot down

Rebels: Rebels: 266+ killed

3,736 killed (Turkish claim)

Syrian:
1 pilot killed
12 soldiers killed
1 Mi-17 shot down
1 MiG-23 shot down
1 Mohajer-4 drone shot down
Russian:
2 servicemen killed
1 SU-24 shot down
1 CSAR helicopter shot down

96+ killed (SOHR and SDF claims)
295 killed (Turkish claim)

8 Turkish civilians killed by SAA fire
292 civilians killed by ISIL attacks across Turkey
246+ Syrian civilians killed since the Turkish military intervention in Syria.

163 Syrian civilians killed by Turkish gendarmerie in 2016