A US-backed alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters announced "phase two" of its campaign for the Islamic State group's Syrian bastion of Raqa on December 10, 2016. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

DAMASCUS, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The international intervention in Syria was until last year under the hood, with what analysts called a proxy war.

The proxy war is still ongoing, but in 2016 the super powers have become more personally involved in Syria's nearly six-year-old conflict.

MILITARY INVOLVEMENT OF TURKEY

Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, Ankara has sided with the opposition, and later played a significant role in supporting the rebels with the aim of toppling the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

All that time, Ankara was supporting the rebels from a distance, by allowing the flow of arms and foreign fighters through its territories and by also establishing training camps for the rebels on its territory.

But his year, the situation got different, as Ankara sent in troops to Syria to support some rebel groups it has for long backed.

There are many reasons behind sending special forces and tanks into Syria.

The ostensible reason was to support the rebels' Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group under a campaign called the Euphrates Shield.

The second reason, which is the main one, is to allow the FSA to fill in the void in areas stripped from IS to cut the road before the Kurdish fighters could take over, as Ankara's red line is a growing Kurdish influence in northern Syria near its borders.

Those were the first most declared goals behind the Turkish campaign until President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently said that the Turkish Army entered Syria to end the rule of President Bashar Assad, whom he accused of terrorism and causing the deaths of thousands.

"We entered (Syria) to end the rule of the tyrant al-Assad who terrorizes with state terror. We didn't enter for any other reason," the Turkish president was quoted by Huyrriyet newspaper last month.

Osama Danura, a political analyst, told Xinhua that the international intervention in Syria has become more significant and clearer than the previous years.

"Such countries have started to deal directly after its subordinates failed to achieve its scheme in bringing down the regime and the Syrian state," he said, warning that such intervention will increase the risk of terrorism in the region.

"It's without a doubt that the intervention of Turkey is more obvious this year," Danura said, adding that the Turkish intervention has become more flagrant than any other time, particularly after the entry of Turkish tanks and forces inside the Syrian territories.

Meanwhile, Danura, who holds a PhD in political science and is one of the government negotiators to the inter-Syrian talks in Geneva, didn't shun aside the possibility of a direct confrontation at some point between the Syrian army and the Turkish forces.

He, however, said that such confrontation could still be far ahead.

U.S. INTERVENTION

The United States has also repeatedly called for the ouster of Assad, and during the years of war in Syria, it seemed like Washington was searching for a strong ally on ground to count on.

Upon reviewing its conduct in Syria, the U.S. has trained several rebel groups and even showed double standards in dealing with them, as it's now supporting rival rebel groups, the Turkey-backed FSA and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Still, Washington presence in Syria, which started in late 2014, when its airstrikes began targeting IS positions, has also become clearer this year.

In September, the U.S. flag was flown at a Syrian Kurdish base in northern Syria close to the Turkish border.

In Tal Abyad, in the northern countryside of the northern city of Raqqa, the stars and stripes flag was flown by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

In the same month, the Kurdish Kurdistan24 news agency said military units allegedly belonging to the U.S. Marines established several control points in Tal Abyad and raised several U.S. flags nearby.

The flag issue came four months after reports said 150 U.S. special forces entered the Kurdish-controlled city of Rmailan in the northeastern city of Hasakah.

At the time, the Syrian Foreign Ministry responded with a statement, saying: "We have received reports about the entry of 150 U.S. soldiers into the Syrian territories in the Rmailan area."

It added that the move was "illegal, illegitimate and carried out without the consent of the Syrian government."

U.S. President Barack Obama announced in April that an additional 250 special operations forces would be sent to Syria soon, in an effort to stem the influence and spread of the IS.

However, the intention of the United States has always been questionable, as the Syrian government expressed skepticism over the real goal behind the U.S. campaign against IS.

In September, a U.S.-led airstrike killed 90 Syrian soldiers in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, in what was later explained as a "human error" leading to striking the Syrian army, as it was the first time the U.S.-led coalition strikes Syrian army positions.

The Syrian government while condemning the attack, said the strike was intentional and aimed to inflict losses on the Syrian army in Deir al-Zour.

RUSSIAN INTERVENTION

True that the Syrian government deems the U.S. intervention as malignant, and the Russian one as benign, but truth remains truth that the Russians have also been more involved recently in the battles against the Western-backed rebels.

Since entering Syria to aid the Syrian government forces, Russia has increasingly brought in more military gears and is now considering the establishment of a long-lasting base in Syria.

This year, Moscow deployed its powerful S300 and S400 air defense systems in an airbase it use in Humaimam in the coastal city of Latakia to defend the Syrian and Russian forces.

Russia's Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defence and Security Viktor Ozerov said on Wednesday that Moscow will sign an agreement with the Syrian government to establish a permanent naval base in the coastal city of Tartus.

He said that talks are in the "final stages," stopping short of giving an exact date as the agreement will be submitted to the Russian parliament for endorsement.

In October, President Vladimir Putin agreed to deploy the Russian air force in Syria "indefinitely."

According to the agreement, Moscow will be using Humaimam base without charge, and the agreement also allows Russia to transport any weapons, ammunition or equipment to Syria free of taxes or fees.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Despite the involvement of many powers in the Syrian crisis, analysts believe that talks about a "World War III" over Syria is not logical.

They said that every major country has larger interests than involving in a direct war with one another in Syria.

Maher Ihsan, a political analyst, said the current advance of the Syrian army on many fronts, mainly the northern city of Aleppo, is what matters now.

He noted that the progress of the Syrian army in Aleppo and its around-the-corner win in the battles means the government control over the country's major cities, which will support the Syrian stance in any dialogue on the solution.

He added that the super powers will eventually reach a consensus to resolve the Syrian war after securing their interests without reaching to a direct confrontation.