Map: at least 7 powers control northern Syria

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Suriye-Gundemi (Syrian Agenda) website published a new map on Friday showing how northern Syria has been divided among key powers of hte Syrian conflict.

The Syrian north is controlled by the US, Russia, Turkey, Kurdish YPG militia, Turkish-backed Euphrates Shield, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, and the regime forces and its allies.

The YPG controls 410 km along the Turkish border.

The Euphrates Shield factions, Tahrir al-Sham and other forces which the map makers classify under the single heading of ‘opposition’ control 260 km along the border. The map shows the regime’s share reduced to 22 km and confined to the far north-west of the country.

The map shows the proliferation of US military bases in the YPG controlled areas where 13 US bases are dispersed with 12 are located east of the Euphrates River, including in Rumailan Airport and one west of the river.

Five Russian bases are located in the YPG controlled areas west of the Euphrates River, and one Russian base is located in the YPG controlled areas east of the Euphrates.

The Russian forces have two bases in the regime controlled areas in northern Syrian, where one is a military airport. Thus, it is clear that the Russians are present in the regime and YPG controlled areas as well as areas where American basis multiply.

Turkey meanwhile has six bases, five in the Euphrates Shield controlled areas and a sixth in Idlib. The Idlib base is referred to in the map as an “observation point”.

Based on the information included in the map, and if influence is calculated based on the number of bases, the Americans are at the forefront of the forces ruling in northern Syria. The American forces have 13 bases in the region which control vital sites including oil wells. The American forces are followed by the Russian forces with eight bases, and finally the Turkish forces with six bases.

Taking other factors into consideration, the Russian forces appear to have the upper hand as they have military bases in both YPG and regime controlled areas.

On the other than, the Turkish forces, appear to be the least influential, based on the number and the distribution of the base, where their center of gravity is confined to the Euphrates Shield controlled areas.

Zaman A Wasl