Status: 11/20/2022 9:53 a.m
Turkey says it has carried out airstrikes on Kurdish positions in northern Syria and Iraq. The operations were directed against the PKK and the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG. There are said to have been several deaths.
A week after an attack in Istanbul, Turkey has confirmed the start of a military operation against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria and Iraq.
Bases of the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK and the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG were targeted, the Defense Ministry said. Both regions are “used as bases for terrorists”. Defense Minister Hulusi Akar therefore ordered the use of Turkish combat aircraft in the Air Force Operations Command.
The mission is about “stopping terrorist attacks from northern Iraq and Syria, ensuring border security and eliminating terrorism at its source,” the ministry said.
Reports of deaths in attacks
The Turkish Defense Ministry had previously tweeted that it was “settlement time”. “Terrorist elements” should be neutralized. The ministry did not provide any information on the purpose of the operation.
The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights based in Great Britain reported that positions of the Syrian army were also hit during the Turkish attacks. At least twelve people were killed, including fighters from the predominantly Kurdish alliance SDF and Syrian soldiers.
Turkish warplanes carried out about 25 attacks in the areas of Aleppo, Raqqa and Hasakah. The Kurdish-Syrian border town of Kobane was also attacked.
17 people arrested for the attack
The airstrikes follow a bomb blast on Istanbul’s busy Istiklal shopping street, which killed six people. The Turkish government blames the PKK and YPG and invokes their right to self-defense.
Both organizations deny having been involved in the attack. They accuse Turkey of creating a pretext for a new military operation in northern Syria.
For months, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had announced an offensive that would penetrate the country’s border up to 30 kilometers deep into the neighboring country.
Four Turkish military offensives in northern Syria
Since 2016, Turkey has conducted four military offensives in northern Syria, also targeting the YPG. The Turkish government sees the YPG as an offshoot of the PKK – both of which it regards as terrorist organizations. The EU and the USA also classify the PKK as terrorist.
Russia and Iran had advised Turkey against a new offensive in northern Syria – both countries are also actors in the Syrian civil war. The USA had also warned of this.