The U.S.

Turkey's war against the Kurdish YPG is just one layer of the Syrian conflict. After eight years, Syria is now a chessboard for many players beyond its borders. The Turkish offensive has just opened another round of the game. 

When Washington announced it would pull troops from northern Syria ahead of the Turkish offensive against Kurdish forces, the Kurds felt betrayed. Some wondered if this was a major shift in U.S. foreign policy.

The U.S. has been a player since the Syrian uprising began out in 2011. It first supported Islamist militants trying to topple the government, but when this enabled ISIL to seize huge swathes of Syria and Iraq, Washington started to change some of its focus.

The northern Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane is a place that now hosts an abandoned U.S. airbase. In 2015, a U.S.-led coalition helped Kurdish fighters secure the town in the battle against ISIL.

After that, the Kurdish-led forces, calling themselves the SDF, became important allies of Washington in defeating ISIL in Syria.

They seized almost a third of Syria from ISIL in the northeast of Syria and with U.S. help, also kept the region separated from government control.

Turkey

Ankara views the Kurdish-led forces as terrorist group trying to tear Turkey part. Throughout the Syrian war, Turkey has armed and supported Islamist militants fighting the government.

But now the most pressing issue for Turkey is to use those same militants to fight against Kurdish fighters. And this is not the first time.

In 2016, Turkish-backed militants seized Afrin and other areas in Syria's northwest, territory that they still control to this day.

Damascus viewed this as an illegal occupation of its sovereign territory and demanded Turkish forces out.

Russia

At one stage in the war, the Syrian government was losing ground and looked as if it might fall to ISIL and other Islamist militants.

But in 2015, Russia launched airstrikes helping to turn the tide in the government's favor.

Now the U.S. redeployment and the Turkish offensive have forced the Kurds to make an agreement with Damascus, paving the way for reunification. Meanwhile, Russia continues to help Damascus to take back full control of the country.

Moscow's leverage has been growing as it worked with Turkey and Iran to balance various interests. This month's operations have given Moscow another chance to play that role.

In 2011, the U.S. sought to end Syria's alliance with Russia. Now Moscow's position looks stronger than ever.

(Cover: Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, October 22, 2019. /VCG Photo)