You all definitely read about Turkey's ongoing operation in North Syria called "Euphrates Shield". People are often debating about the geopolitical implications and the potential influence Turkey will have on political events and negotiations regarding Syria's future due to this military intervention. I personally don't believe that Ankara will ever leave this region again. At least, the Turkish government will ensure that Turkey's cultural footprint will last in this region for the next generations.
If Syria won't fall apart and the Sunni Arab, Alawi Arab and Kurdish populations agree on a federal governing system Ankara surely will insist that parts of North Syria should be granted a special status within the Syrian state even though they're overwhelmingly Arab and Sunni.
Operation "Euphrates Shield" started less than 6 months ago but you already can see a strong Turkish influence in the area, which is conquered by Turkish-backed FSA forces and the Turkish military.
Jarablus is a perfect case study. It's a town in close proximity to the Turkish border where the Turkish operation in fact started last year.
This is how the town looks today after liberating it from DAESH. People are happy to have got this stressful period behind them and they already returned to the daily routine:
But now the really difficult period has begun for the Turkish gov't.
No one in Turkey wants the establishment of harsh assimilation policies towards any Sunni Arab person. But leaving them how they are isn't an option either. Therefore AKP developed a strategy to re-educate the population.
They're implementing a twin-track approach.
1. Act responsibly instead of merely talking about responsibility.
Let the adult people experience the difference between living under any Arab ruler and living under the protection of Turkey. Action speaks louder than words.
2. Focus on the young people. Forget the elders.
You can't win the brains of the parents and grandparents but you can change the future of North Syria by helping the young people. They're open for innovation and fundamental modernization.
So what is Turkey doing in Jarablus right now?
- re-establishing the public order
- re-establishing structures of the state and civil society
- providing public services and utilities like food, water, shelter and medical care to those in need and restoring critical public services
- forming a new government
- re-organizing security forces (police and military)
- undertaking visible efforts to dismantle terrorist organizations
- implementing educational reforms
AKP's main goal is triggering a gradual cultural change to create a modern, civilized, righteous rolemodel citizen of Sunni Arab origin in the Turkish-held areas in Syria showing the Arab and the Muslim world the superiority of the Turkish model in comparison to Iran's Welayat-e faqih ideology and Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi worldview.
(Sorry for my limited English skills.)