"The Turks are victorious, they were always going to be victorious," Aaron Stein, from the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center, said. "They have lopped off another piece of Syrian territory and will have incorporated it into Turkey governing structures. "Afrin is one of the most strategic areas of northwest Syria. "Now the other Kurdish regions are under risk. "Every metre of Syria that Turkish troops and their Syrian rebel proxies march on is now placed well beyond the reach of Damascus," analyst Heras said.And despite the close ties between Assad and Moscow, Heras said Turkey's consolidation of territory in Syria was done "with the blessing of Russia"

Source: Economic Times March 19, 2018 05:15 UTC