Is Türkiye the Only NATO Ally to Fight DAESH on the Ground? What the Euphrates Shield Record Shows

Why It Matters

Türkiye's claim to be the only NATO member fighting DAESH on the ground is accurate in a narrow sense and contested in a broad one. Operation Euphrates Shield (24 August 2016 to 29 March 2017) was the only campaign in which the regular army of a NATO member, with its own armour, artillery and command chain, fought DAESH for territory in Syria. Other allies, notably the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Canada, also had personnel in ground roles in Iraq and Syria, mostly advising and supporting local forces.

The answer therefore depends on how 'ground combat' is defined. This brief sets out the chronology, attributes Turkish figures to the Turkish institutions that issue them, summarizes allied roles from their own sources, and flags what cannot be independently checked.

Background

DAESH (also called ISIS/ISIL) declared a 'caliphate' in June 2014, and Türkiye became both a neighbour of its territory and a target of its attacks. The Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS was formed in September 2014. Türkiye joined it and, in July 2015, opened Incirlik air base to Coalition aircraft. UN Security Council Resolution 2170 (2014) and Resolution 2249 (2015) called on states to combat DAESH, and Ankara cites both as part of its legal basis.

DAESH-linked attacks in Türkiye included the Suruç bombing (July 2015), the Ankara rally bombing (10 October 2015, over 100 dead) and the Istanbul Atatürk Airport attack (June 2016). Rocket fire from DAESH-held areas also hit the border province of Kilis. These attacks shaped Ankara's decision to act inside Syria.

Euphrates Shield chronology

Turkish sources commonly put the cleared area at roughly 2,000 square kilometres (about 770 square miles). Ankara says the operation also sought to stop the SDF, led by the YPG, from linking its territories along the Turkish border, a point examined below. For the wider alliance context, see Türkiye in NATO: Role, Contributions and Friction Points in European Security.

Key Players & Positions

Each ally describes its own role differently, which is why the 'only' claim is hard to settle.

• United States. According to the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) and Department of Defense statements, US forces conducted airstrikes, trained and advised Iraqi forces, and worked with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria. Documented ground actions include the May 2015 special operations raid that killed DAESH commander Abu Sayyaf and US Marine artillery support during the Raqqa campaign in 2017. Washington's official approach was to operate 'by, with and through' local partners.
• France. French authorities have described artillery support for Iraqi forces, including during the Mosul campaign, plus special forces advisers and training missions.
• United Kingdom and Canada. Both deployed special forces and trainers in Iraq. Canadian officials have acknowledged that Canadian special operations personnel advising Kurdish forces came under fire and, in at least one case, took part in direct engagements.
• NATO as an organization. NATO joined the Global Coalition as a member in 2017. Its role has centred on AWACS surveillance flights and, since 2018, a training and capacity-building mission in Iraq. It has not run a combat operation against DAESH.
• SDF and Washington. The United States and its Coalition partners treated the YPG-led SDF as the most effective ground partner against DAESH. This included the Raqqa campaign (2017) and the final defeat of DAESH's territorial holdings at Baghouz (March 2019).
• Russia and Damascus. Russia and Syrian government forces were also fighting DAESH in Syria. Near al-Bab in 2017, Turkish and Syrian government forces operated in close proximity, which complicated deconfliction.
• Critics of Ankara. Between 2014 and 2015, some Western officials and analysts argued that Türkiye's long border had been used by foreign fighters to reach DAESH. Turkish officials reject this and point to entry-ban lists, deportations and later border measures.

Source Comparison

Western and Turkish sources agree on the main facts of Euphrates Shield but differ on emphasis and on the 'only' claim.

What can and cannot be verified

Dates, locations and the presence of Turkish ground forces are well documented; the totals are not independently audited.

• Verifiable: the start date (24 August 2016), the Jarablus operation, the fighting around al-Bab, Türkiye's announced control of the town on 23 February 2017, and the formal end of the operation on 29 March 2017. These are confirmed by wide international reporting.
• Attributed, not independently audited: the 'over 4,000 DAESH members neutralized' and '100,000 prevented from entering' figures. They come from Turkish institutions and public statements. Outside observers have not published an independent tally or methodology, and 'neutralized' is not a legal category.
• Definition-dependent: the word 'only.' It holds if the test is a NATO member's regular army, under its own command, fighting DAESH for territory. It is weaker if the test is any ally personnel engaged in ground combat, since several allies acknowledge combat-adjacent or direct engagement roles in Iraq and Syria.
• Contested: civilian harm. Monitoring organizations documented civilian casualties in the al-Bab area, and Ankara states that it took precautions to avoid harming civilians.

For sister-publication analysis on the alliance dimension, see Interstate Journal on Türkiye in NATO and Bloc Politics on Türkiye as a bridge between blocs.

Key Terms & Related Guides

• DAESH: the Arabic acronym for ISIS/ISIL. Türkiye and several other governments use it as the preferred name.
• Euphrates Shield (Fırat Kalkanı): the Turkish operation in northern Syria from 24 August 2016 to 29 March 2017.
• PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG: the PKK is a designated terrorist organization in Türkiye, the US and the EU. Ankara says the PYD/YPG is its Syrian branch, while the US worked with the YPG-led SDF against DAESH.
• Article 51: the UN Charter provision recognizing the inherent right of self-defense, which Ankara cites for its cross-border operations.
• 'Neutralized': Turkish official term covering fighters killed, captured or otherwise removed from combat; it is not an independently defined statistic.

Related reading: Article 51 of the UN Charter, Türkiye in NATO, Defense Industry Brief, The Worldlogue on defense exports and alliance diplomacy, and our Editorial Principles on how we separate fact from position.

Published by the International Politics Brief Editorial Team.

This article reflects International Politics Brief's editorial perspective, which presents Türkiye's strategic and legal positions alongside the documented facts. Claims are attributed to primary sources such as official texts, treaties, UN and international organization documents, and archival records, which are cited wherever possible.