March 2011: Syrian civil war begins.
July 2012: YPG, the armed wing of the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian branch PYD, took control Afrin, Kobane, and Amuda.
November 2013: The PYD announced three autonomous areas or “cantons” called Afrin, Jazira and Kobane (from west to the east) following the withdrawal of Syrian regime forces.
September 2014: DAESH attacked the PYD-controlled Kobane.
January 2015: YPG completely retook Kobane from DAESH after a bloody fight for four consecutive months. Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces from northern Iraq were given passage through Turkey to help push back DAESH.
June 15, 2015: The YPG took over the Arab-dominated border town of Tel Abyad, which allowed the group to join its Jazira “canton” with Kobane.
June 29, 2015: Turkey declared any incursion west of the Euphrates River by the YPG as a red line at a National Security Council (MGK) meeting.
July 20, 2015: A DAESH suicide bombing in Turkey’s southeastern province of Sanliurfa killed over 30 people on their way to deliver aid to Kobane.
October 13, 2015: A twin suicide bombing by DAESH in the Turkish capital Ankara kills over 100 people.
November 24, 2015: Turkey downed a Russian jet over its border with Syria since it had violated Turkish air space.
January 2016: DAESH started targeting Turkey’s southern province of Kilis with rocket shellings, killing at least 10 civilians.
January 12, 2016: A DAESH suicide bombing in Istanbul’s touristic Sultanahmet area killed 13 tourists.
March 19, 2016: A DAESH suicide bombing in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district killed five.
June 28, 2016: In a triple suicide bombing, DAESH attacked Istanbul Ataturk airport, killing more than 40 people.
August 12, 2016: The US-backed Syria Democratic Forces alliance (SDF), which is mainly comprised of the YPG, captured the city of Manbij, just south of Jarablus, from DAESH.
August 20, 2016: A DAESH suicide bomber in Turkey’s southeastern city of Gaziantep killed 54 people at a wedding ceremony.
August 23, 2016: YPG forces take near full control of Syria’s northeastern city of Hasakah.
August 24, 2016: Turkey launches a large offensive backed by the US-led coalition on the DAESH-held border town of Jarablus. Turkish special forces enter northern Syria while Turkish F-16s and tanks deployed near the border strike DAESH targets.
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