Turkish forces have “neutralised” 58 Kurdish militants in northern Syria in overnight attacks on militant targets, as conflict in the region escalated nearly a week after a bomb attack in Ankara.
Key points:
-
Türkiye says a ground operation into Syria is an option it could consider
-
President Tayyip Erdogan has repeated his warning to militants that Türkiye “may suddenly come one night”
- Türkiye lists the YPG as a terrorist organisation and says it is indistinguishable from the PKK
Türkiye’s Defence Ministry has this week said all targets belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militia and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia were “legitimate targets” for its forces.
Their statement came after the PKK claimed responsibility for Sunday’s bombing in Ankara, which wounded two police officers and killed the two attackers.
Türkiye said the attackers came from Syria but Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have denied this.
Since the bomb attack, Ankara has launched a barrage of air strikes and attacks against militant targets in northern Syria and Iraq, while ramping up security operations at home.
“Targets belonging to PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Syria’s Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch, and Peace Spring operation areas were hit strongly all night long,” the ministry said, referring to regions where Türkiye has previously mounted incursions.
The ministry said the operations, which it said were carried out under self-defence rights, had “neutralised” 58 militants in the region.
They have typically used the term “neutralised” to mean killed.
Late on Friday local time, the ministry had said Türkiye’s military had conducted air strikes in northern Syria, destroying 15 militant targets where it said militants were believed to be.
Speaking at his ruling AK Party’s congress in Ankara on Saturday, President Tayyip Erdogan repeated his warning that Türkiye “may suddenly come one night”.
He has often used the term to target militants in Syria and Iraq.
“We will implement our strategy of ending terror at its root with determination, and hold the PKK, FETO, and Daesh to account over every drop of blood they have spilled,” he said.
His comment referred to Islamic State and the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating a failed coup attempt in July 2016.
Türkiye has listed the YPG as a terrorist organisation and said it was indistinguishable from the PKK, which has fought an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.
The United States and European Union deem the PKK a terrorist organisation, but not the YPG.
The YPG is at the heart of the SDF forces in the US-led coalition against Islamic State militants. US support for them has long caused tension with Türkiye.
Underscoring the tension, the United States on Thursday shot down an armed Turkish drone operating near its troops in Syria, the first time Washington has brought down an aircraft of NATO ally Türkiye.
Ankara and Washington held a series of calls following the incident, with Türkiye saying non-conflict mechanisms with the parties on the ground would be improved, but vowing to continue hitting militants in Syria and Iraq.
Türkiye, which has mounted several incursions into northern Syria against the YPG, has said a ground operation into Syria is an option it could consider.
Reuters