Another consequence is that the majority Kurdish population that lived in Syria’s border region with Turkey has been in the crosshairs of Turkey’s military and allied Islamist militias. A report released this week from the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria paints an ugly picture.

The report singles out that Islamist militia, known (ironically) as the “Syrian National Army,” for actions that likely amount to war crimes. Three of its brigades “repeatedly perpetrated the war crime of pillage in both the Afrin and Ra’s al-Ayn regions,” it says. The militias have also been credibly accused of the torture and rape of detainees.

Making things worse, the report also notes “allegations that Turkish forces were aware of incidents of looting and appropriation of civilian property and that they were present in detention facilities run by the Syrian National Army where the ill-treatment of detainees was rampant, including during interrogation sessions when torture took place.”