After air strikes on Kurdish positions in Syria and Iraq, Erdogan is also planning ground attacks. Turkey blames the PKK and YPG for the attack in Istanbul.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also considering ground attacks after air strikes on Kurdish positions in Syria and Iraq. There is no doubt that you are not limited to air operations.
According to the state news agency Anadolu, Erdogan said on Monday, “How many forces from the ground forces should be involved will be decided and then steps will be taken.” It wasn’t more specific.
Airstrikes on Iraq and Syria
Turkey took action against the YPG and the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK by carrying out numerous airstrikes on northern Iraq and northern Syria on Sunday night. At least 35 people died, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Kurdish militias had announced that they would retaliate. On Sunday and Monday, Turkey reported bombardments on the Syrian border with dead and injured people.
Turkey blames Kurds for attacks in Istanbul
The Turkish government linked the airstrikes a week ago with the attack on Istanbul’s Istiklal shopping street on Sunday. It sees the Syrian-Kurdish organization YPG, which rejects the attack, and the banned workers’ party PKK as the mastermind of the attack. Investigations in Turkey are still ongoing.
According to the Turkish Ministry of Defense, attacks are now targeting PKK and YPG bases. The Turkish government classifies both as terrorist organizations.
Military action against Kurdish militias began
Monday’s attacks hit a school, two houses and a truck near the border crossing with the Syrian city of Jarabulus, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. Pictures showed broken windows of a school and a burning truck. Six police officers and two soldiers were injured in a rocket launch from Syria on Sunday.
For years, Turkey has been trying to create a “buffer zone” on the Syrian border and to push back Kurdish troops, which it blames for terrorist attacks.
Human rights activists criticize the attacks
Human rights activists criticize military attacks on Kurdish areas in Syria and Iraq. International Human Rights Association (ISHR) board spokesman Martin Lessenthin criticized the attacks as “destroying Kurdish self-determination and identity”. The human rights organization called for the immediate cessation of the attacks.
Minorities in the region such as Kurds, Yazidis and Syriac Christians have been subjected to human rights violations for years. According to ISHR, the current attacks in Iraq specifically target the Kurds and aim to crush the protest movement.
The human rights organization also spoke of Turkey’s aggressive enlargement policy under Erdogan, targeting the Kurdish regions in particular.
Source: ZDF
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