Turkey Escalates Airstrikes Against Kurdish Targets in Iraq

Erdogan: Peace Process Is 'Impossible'

The Iraqi government has issued a statement of condemnation today after the Turkish military launched yet another round of airstrikes against Kurdish forces inside northern Iraq, with reports that the strikes are the heaviest yet since they were first launched Friday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan talked up the continued attacks in comments today, saying he believes the peace process with the Kurds has become “impossible.” Turkey had been in a 2-year ceasefire with the Kurdish PKK, which ended with the Friday strikes.

Turkish Premier Ahmet Davutoglu confirmed today’s strikes, saying they targeted a number of PKK shelters and depots in six areas across northern Iraq. The PKK has had a presence across northern Iraq for many years, and Turkey has intermittently attacked them there throughout that.

Turkey opened up the fighting against the Kurds at the same time as they were escalating strikes against ISIS, giving them two significant new conflicts to contend with. While NATO endorsed the ISIS fighting, there was reportedly tepid support for attacking the Kurds.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.