On May 23, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to militarily expand Turkey's buffer zone along the Syrian border. Since then, the Syrian cities of Manbij, Tal Rifaat and Kobani have emerged as possible targets of a new Turkish operation. Controlling these cities — which are held by the Kurdish-dominated, U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces — would help Turkey secure a 30-kilometer (about 18.64-mile) deep buffer zone between Syrian government-held territory and Turkey's border. Ankara hopes to use this buffer zone to resettle up to 1 million Syrian refugees, block Kurdish militants from entering Turkey and entrench Turkish influence in Syria for years to come.
