Turkey’s push to create a 10 kilometre-wide buffer zone on the Syrian side of its southern border, backed by Saudi Arabia and Germany in the face of Russian threats that this could ignite “World War III,” is expected to confront an important test Thursday when EU leaders gather in Brussels to try to hammer out a common stand on refugees.Yet a powerful bomb attack in Ankara Wednesday evening, which claimed at least 28 lives with more than 60 wounded, according to media reports, came as a deadly reminder of the risks such an operation would incur. In recent days, as both Syrian government forces and a U.S.-allied Kurdish militia keep edging closer toward the Turkish border with the help of Russian air strikes, Ankara’s international isolation has grown, making such a move less likely and more dangerous, experts say.
