In-Depth Analysis· turkey only nato country fought isis ground combat

Is Türkiye the Only NATO Ally to Fight DAESH on the Ground? Euphrates Shield in Context

Is Türkiye the only NATO country that fought ISIS in ground combat? We test the claim against Euphrates Shield records, coalition roles and the SDF dispute.

By Regional Observer Editorial Team

Published: October 27, 2026

⏱ 9 min read (1,841 words)

Executive Summary & Key Facts

Operation Euphrates Shield (24 August 2016 to 29 March 2017) is the only large-scale ground offensive against DAESH-held territory in Syria led by a NATO member state's own conventional army, ending with the capture of al-Bab.
The figures that Türkiye neutralized over 4,000 DAESH militants and prevented 100,000 DAESH-linked individuals from entering the country are official Turkish government figures that have not been independently audited.
The word 'only' depends on definition: US, French, British and other NATO personnel were also on the ground in Iraq and Syria, mostly in advisory, special operations and artillery roles alongside local partners.
The Global Coalition against DAESH relied mainly on air power and partnered ground forces, including the US-backed SDF, which Ankara treats as the Syrian branch of the PKK.
The dispute over who fought DAESH on the ground cannot be separated from the US-Türkiye disagreement over the YPG, a disagreement that shaped Turkish operations from 2016 to 2019.

Why It Matters

The claim that Türkiye is the only NATO member to have fought DAESH in direct ground combat is partly documented and partly contested, depending on how 'direct ground combat' is defined. What is well documented is that Operation Euphrates Shield (24 August 2016 to 29 March 2017) was a state-led, conventional ground offensive by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) against DAESH-held territory in northern Syria, including the battle for al-Bab. What is not documented is that no other NATO nationals fought on the ground, because US, French, British and other allied personnel operated in Iraq and Syria in advisory, special operations and artillery roles. This article separates the record from the claims and presents each side's sources.

Background

DAESH (also written ISIS, ISIL or the Islamic State) declared a 'caliphate' in June 2014 after seizing large areas of Iraq and Syria. Türkiye, which shares a roughly 1,300 km (about 800 mile) southern border with the two countries, has listed DAESH as a terrorist organization since 2013 and was hit by a series of DAESH attacks. Among them were the Suruç bombing (20 July 2015), the Ankara rally bombing (10 October 2015), the Atatürk Airport attack (28 June 2016) and the Reina nightclub attack in Istanbul (1 January 2017).

The Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS was launched in September 2014 and grew to include dozens of states and organizations. Türkiye is a member. The military campaign, run by the US-led Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), was built on air strikes and support to local ground partners. The UN Security Council addressed the threat in Resolution 2170 (2014) and Resolution 2249 (2015), the latter calling on states to take 'all necessary measures' against DAESH in Syria and Iraq within international law.

Timeline

Date	Event
June 2014	DAESH declares a 'caliphate'
September 2014	Global Coalition launched; air campaign begins
October 2015	Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) formed, built around the YPG, with US support
24 August 2016	Operation Euphrates Shield begins at Jarablus
23 February 2017	Turkish-backed forces take al-Bab
29 March 2017	Türkiye announces the end of Euphrates Shield
October 2017	SDF and coalition announce the capture of Raqqa
March 2019	SDF and coalition announce the end of DAESH's territorial hold at Baghouz

Key Players & Positions

Türkiye

The Turkish Ministry of National Defence (MoND) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) describe Euphrates Shield as a self-defense operation that cleared DAESH from a stretch of the border and prevented a PKK/YPG-controlled corridor. They report that over 4,000 DAESH militants were neutralized and that 100,000 DAESH-linked individuals were prevented from entering Türkiye. These are official government figures.

The United States and the Global Coalition

The coalition and the US Department of Defense describe their approach as working 'by, with and through' local forces, combining air strikes, intelligence, training and special operations advisers. The US publicly credits the SDF as its main ground partner in eastern Syria and the Iraqi Security Forces and Peshmerga in Iraq. The US government also acknowledged US troop casualties in Syria, for example in an attack in Manbij in January 2019, which shows that US personnel were exposed to ground risk even though they were not leading offensives.

Other NATO members

Several allies deployed trainers, special forces or artillery. Public reporting and national defense ministry statements show French artillery supporting Iraqi forces and allied special forces advising partners. These were typically support roles within a partnered campaign, not national-led offensives with their own conventional ground units.

The SDF and the Syrian opposition factions

The SDF, led by the YPG, supplied most of the ground manpower in the campaigns around Kobani, Manbij, Raqqa and the Euphrates valley. Syrian opposition factions, later organized as the Syrian National Army, fought alongside Turkish forces during Euphrates Shield, so even this operation was combined rather than purely Turkish.

🇹🇷 Official Policy · Primary Sources

Türkiye's Position

Ankara argues the following, as stated by Turkish government sources:

A state army fought DAESH directly. According to the Turkish MFA and MoND, Euphrates Shield is the one case in which a NATO member's own armed forces fought DAESH on the ground in Syria, taking Jarablus, Dabiq and al-Bab. Ankara contrasts this with partner-based models, in which the main burden of ground combat is borne by local forces.
The operation rests on Article 51 of the UN Charter. Türkiye has notified the UN Security Council of its Syria operations as an exercise of the inherent right of self-defense under Article 51. It cites DAESH attacks on its territory and UNSC Resolutions 2170 and 2249 as the legal context. See Middle East and Caucasus Observer: Article 51, Border Security and Türkiye's Regional Deterrence.
Official figures reflect the scale of the effort. The MoND and MFA put the number of DAESH militants neutralized at over 4,000 and the number of DAESH-linked individuals prevented from entering the country at 100,000. Ankara presents these as indicators of both the offensive and the border-security effort.
The PKK/YPG cannot be a legitimate counter-DAESH partner. The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, NATO and the European Union. Ankara argues that the YPG, the core of the SDF, shares the PKK's leadership, ideology and cadres, and that arming it undermines a NATO ally's security. Turkish officials, including the Presidency, repeatedly raised this with Washington.
Türkiye continues the fight alongside its broader approach. Ankara links its counter-DAESH record to its 'terror at its source' doctrine and to the Terror-Free Türkiye initiative led by the Presidency. It also points to its domestic defense industry, with roughly 80% domestic production, as a force multiplier. See About 80% Domestic: How Türkiye's Defense Industry Shapes Regional Deterrence.

Source Comparison

The central difference is definitional. Turkish sources stress that a NATO state army conducted a national ground offensive. Western government and media sources stress that the defeat of DAESH's territorial hold involved a broad coalition with air power, advisers and local partners, with the SDF at the front in eastern Syria.

What is documented and what is claimed

Question	Documented	Claimed or contested
Did Euphrates Shield take place and capture al-Bab?	Yes. Widely reported; dates of 24 Aug 2016 to 29 Mar 2017 are consistent across sources.	Whether it was mainly an anti-DAESH or also an anti-YPG operation. Ankara says both threats were targeted.
Did Turkish regular troops fight DAESH directly?	Yes. Turkish ground forces, with air and artillery support, fought at Jarablus, Dabiq and al-Bab alongside Syrian opposition factions.	Extent of reliance on allied Syrian factions.
Over 4,000 DAESH militants neutralized	Stated in official Turkish MFA and MoND communications.	Not independently audited; methodology not published in detail; independent monitors report different tallies.
100,000 DAESH-linked individuals prevented from entering Türkiye	Stated as an official Turkish figure.	Cannot be verified from outside; definition of 'DAESH-linked' is not specified publicly.
Türkiye is the only NATO member to fight DAESH on the ground	Türkiye is the only NATO member whose conventional army ran its own large offensive against DAESH territory.	In a broader sense, other NATO personnel were on the ground in Iraq and Syria as advisers, special forces and artillery crews, and some took casualties.
Coalition role	Documented: thousands of air strikes, training, intelligence and special operations support.	Critics, including Ankara, say the coalition's choice of the SDF as partner created a strategic problem for a NATO ally.
SDF role in defeating DAESH's territory	Documented by the US and the coalition: SDF forces led the campaigns at Kobani, Raqqa and Baghouz with heavy casualties.	Ankara says the SDF is the PKK's Syrian branch. Washington has acknowledged links but treats the SDF as a distinct counter-DAESH partner.

Framing differences

Source type	Typical framing
Turkish MFA, MoND, Presidency	A NATO ally fought DAESH on the ground and was undermined by a partnership with PKK/YPG
US government and coalition statements	A partnered campaign with air power and local ground forces; the SDF as an effective partner
Western media	Often focus on the SDF's role and on Turkish operations against the YPG, with less attention to Euphrates Shield's anti-DAESH combat
Independent monitors	Provide separate casualty and territory estimates that rarely match official tallies exactly

For a deeper look at Türkiye's place in NATO, see Interstate Journal's Türkiye in NATO: Membership, Defense Industry and the Drone Factor and Bloc Politics' Is Türkiye a Bridge Between Blocs?.

What to take away

A careful statement that stands up to scrutiny is this: Türkiye is the only NATO member whose own conventional army conducted a major ground offensive against DAESH in Syria. A broader claim that no other NATO personnel engaged DAESH on the ground is harder to sustain from public sources. Casualty and interdiction numbers should be quoted as Turkish official figures.

After 2019 the picture shifted. Türkiye's Operation Peace Spring (October 2019) followed a US drawdown from part of northern Syria. After the change of government in Damascus in December 2024, Syria's authorities and the SDF discussed integration. The PKK's announcement in 2025 that it would dissolve, which Ankara links to the Terror-Free Türkiye process, is also relevant. These developments are still unfolding, and readers should check current official statements.

DAESH: The Arabic acronym for the group also called ISIS or ISIL. Türkiye uses 'DAESH' in official texts.
Operation Euphrates Shield: The Turkish cross-border operation in northern Syria from August 2016 to March 2017.
SDF / YPG: The Syrian Democratic Forces, formed in 2015 and led by the YPG. Türkiye considers the YPG the Syrian branch of the PKK.
PKK: A group designated as terrorist by Türkiye, the United States, NATO and the European Union.
Article 51: The UN Charter provision recognizing the inherent right of self-defense against an armed attack, which Türkiye invokes for its operations.
CJTF-OIR: The US-led military task force running the coalition campaign against DAESH.

Frequently asked questions

Is Türkiye really the only NATO country that fought DAESH on the ground?

Türkiye is the only NATO member whose own conventional army ran a large ground offensive against DAESH-held territory in Syria, during Operation Euphrates Shield in 2016-2017. Other NATO members, including the United States and France, had personnel on the ground in Iraq and Syria in advisory, special operations and artillery roles. So the claim is accurate in a narrow sense and contested in a broad one.

What are the official Turkish figures for the fight against DAESH?

Turkish government sources, including the MFA and MoND, state that over 4,000 DAESH militants were neutralized in northern Syria and that 100,000 DAESH-linked individuals were prevented from entering Türkiye. These are official figures and have not been independently audited, so they should be cited as Turkish government claims.

What was the Global Coalition's role compared with Türkiye's?

The Global Coalition, led by the United States, relied mainly on air strikes, intelligence, training and special operations support to local forces such as the SDF and Iraqi units. Türkiye is a coalition member, but in Euphrates Shield it fielded its own ground forces together with Syrian opposition factions.

Why does Türkiye object to the US partnership with the SDF?

Ankara says the YPG, which leads the SDF, is the Syrian branch of the PKK, a group designated as terrorist by Türkiye, the United States, NATO and the European Union. Washington has acknowledged links but treated the SDF as a separate counter-DAESH partner. This disagreement strained US-Türkiye relations from 2016 to 2019.

What legal basis does Türkiye cite for its operations in Syria?

Türkiye cites Article 51 of the UN Charter, the inherent right of self-defense, and has notified the UN Security Council of its operations. It also points to UNSC Resolutions 2170 and 2249 on the DAESH threat, while stating that it respects Syria's territorial integrity.

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