Before Operation Euphrates Shield, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had already initiated an operation with artillery shots on the border and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) elements it supports inside, in an attempt to clear the Azaz-Jarablus line from Daesh and secure the region. In fact, this process, which started much earlier than Aug. 24, was the first phase of the operation. The TSK started the second phase by entering Syria first via Jarablus and then al-Rai. Since the beginning, I have written in this column that the operation would be thornier as it intensified, it would not progress as quickly as initial days after Dabiq, and complications might emerge as more players got to the scene as it neared al-Bab.