When President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent Turkish warplanes and armoured units thundering into Syria this week, he did so in the name of places like Akçakale.
The dusty town is wedged up against the Syria border, so close that its residents can see the yellow and green flags of Syrian Kurdish forces fluttering in the near distance.
Before Syria’s plunge into war in 2011, the international border was barely noticed. Merchants crossed from Akçakale into the neighbouring Syrian town of Tel Abyad, while families went back and forth between the countries for weddings and funerals.
Today, Akçakale represents the two problems Mr Erdoğan says he is determined to solve with his military assault on northeast…
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