FILE: Damascus, Syria - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese Mainland/Orient TV/Syria Alshaab TV/Zanoubia TV/Alhurra TV/ANN TV/Al Jazeera/Al-Arabiya TV)
1. Syrian national flag
2. Traffic

Afrin, Syria - Feb 10-11, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese Mainland/Orient TV/Syria Alshaab TV/Zanoubia TV/Alhurra TV/ANN TV/Al Jazeera/Al-Arabiya TV)
3. Black smoke rising into air after fighting
4. Man walking in ditch dug out by Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG)

Istanbul, Turkey - Feb 22, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese Mainland)
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Barcin Yinanc, journalist, Hurriyet Daily News (partially overlaid with shots 6-7):
"The fact that Turkey has launched a military campaign might create problems in areas of cooperation with Tehran and Russia, but at the end of the day, this is also another way for Turkey to push Russia and Iran to lend an ear to Turkey's sensitivities."

Afrin, Syria - Feb 10-11, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese Mainland/Orient TV/Syria Alshaab TV/Zanoubia TV/Alhurra TV/ANN TV/Al Jazeera/Al-Arabiya TV)
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
6. Various of Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) logo
7. YPG flag
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++

FILE: Ankara, Turkey - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese Mainland)
8. Various of Turkish national flag
9. Traffic

Istanbul, Turkey - Feb 20, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese Mainland)
10. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Naim Baburoglu, Turkish security expert:
"The premise for Turkey and Russia to agree on the entry of Syrian government forces into the region is based on the withdrawal of the People's Protection Units and the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) forces to the eastern side of the Euphrates River, because this is Turkey's red line."

FILE: Ankara, Turkey - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese Mainland)
11. Various of pedestrians

Afrin, Syria - Feb 10-11, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese Mainland/Orient TV/Syria Alshaab TV/Zanoubia TV/Alhurra TV/ANN TV/Al Jazeera/Al-Arabiya TV)
12. Various of people on streets

The recent Turkish military operation, dubbed Olive Branch, is continuing its advance and therefore is widening the rift between Russia, Turkey and Iran, according to political analysts.

Russia and Iran are said to be the supporters of the Bashar al-Assad regime, who's current purpose is to strike the rebel groups with the help of its allies and recapture as much as possible territories that it had lost to rebels in the past.

However, Turkey's current operation is said to be in an opposite direction with Russia and Iran's. With the military operation continuing in northern Syria by Turkish forces and the opposition group in Syria, there is an increased chance that the future Syrian government will reach a deal with the Kurds to resist Turkey, and once the Syrian government becomes involved, then the interests of Russia and Iran will directly clash with Turkey, according to Barcin Yinanc, a journalist with the Hurriyet Daily News.

"The fact that Turkey has launched a military campaign might create problems in areas of cooperation with Tehran and Russia, but at the end of the day, this is also another way for Turkey to push Russia and Iran to lend an ear to Turkey's sensitivities," said Yinanc.

On the Syria situation, the fundamental difference between Turkey, Russia and Iran is the problem of the future of Bashar al-Assad. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Larov appealed on Tuesday that Turkey and the Syrian government should carry out a direct dialogue on the situation of Afrin, therefore, Turkey's legitimate security interests can be met through such dialogue.

However, Naim Baburoglu, a Turkish security expert, said there is little chance to see a dialogue between Turkey and the Syrian government, because Turkey's main purpose of driving the Syrian Kurds out of the region has obviously yet to be met by the Syrian government.

"The premise for Turkey and Russia to agree on the entry of Syrian government forces into the region is based on the withdrawal of the People's Protection Units and the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) forces to the eastern side of the Euphrates River, because this is Turkey's red line," said Baburoglu.

At the current stage, Turkey, Russia and Iran are all trying to find diplomatic ways to remedy the rift between them as the heads of the three countries will hold a meeting in April. But with the advance of the Turkish military operation, the current cooperation among the three countries is still uncertain, Baburoglu added.