Turkey carried out dozens of airstrikes in northern Syria and Iraq on Sunday against Kurdish groups it blamed for a recent deadly bombing in Istanbul.
Ankara blamed the Kurdish militant group PKK for the Istanbul bombing, which killed six people and wounded at least 81. For their part, the PKK and its affiliates have denied any role in the attack.
Dozens of people were reported killed in Turkey’s strikes in Syria, although there are conflicting reports about the casualties. The US-backed Kurdish-led SDF reported one of its fighters was killed along with 13 civilians.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) had a conflicting report that said 14 militants were killed in airstrikes in SDF-controlled areas. The SOHR is also reporting that 12 Syrian government soldiers were killed by Turkish airstrikes in other areas, but that number isn’t confirmed.
The Turkish Defense Ministry said Sunday that its warplanes hit 89 targets across northern Syria and Iraq, claiming they were all military infrastructure connected to the PKK. Before dawn on Sunday, the Ministry posted a picture of a warplane on Twitter and wrote: “The scoundrels are being held accountable for the treacherous attacks!”
The airstrikes were one of Turkey’s largest operations in the region in years, raising fears that a major conflict between the Kurdish groups and Ankara could break out. The SDF warned it will retaliate and that its response will come “effectively and efficiently at the right time and place.”
Turkey has always been unhappy about US support for the SDF in Syria, and Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu accused Washington of complicity in the Istanbul bombing over its backing of the group.
The SDF has said that it’s “open” to working with the Syrian government against Turkey, but the US presence in Syria makes that cooperation more difficult. On the other hand, Turkey recently said it’s willing to ally with Syria against the Kurdish groups, but Ankara has long backed militias against Damascus.
Kurds are amazing — counting in everyone having memory loss. Evety time they face Turkish military action, they make promises to Damascus. All kinds of primisses. The moment Turkey stops the presdure, they run to US and continue occupying places that are majority Syrian Arab areas. And start takking of their secessionist plans, uniting with Kurds in Turkey by rrasing border between the two. Damascus is caught in a difficult situation. On one hand it cannot stand Kurdish leaders litteraly chopping up the country and guarding US seized Syrian oilfields. But it cannot approve a foreign country attack its citizens, Kurdisk population has no say in thevdecisions by their leaders.
Turkey should probably deal with HTS first, as it was British supported HTS that defeated all otger groups in Idlib, allowing HTS to move into Afrin. Now, they AGAIN have smuggling going on with PKK across the border. And the woman bomber came from Sytis via Afrin.
The process of coopting mikitant groups worked well to a point, Now, as Idlib militants are beholden to HRS for food distribution — they are forced to obey HTS
For as ling as HTS is in Idlib — problems will multiply.
The largest share goes to Israel-Washington, no?
Prove it.
“A Clean Break”: Israel-Washington sponsors religious dissident terrorist groups in order to weaken established regimes to allow Israel to dominate ME and kill, expel, and annex territory. Weak regimes susceptible to challenge from legitimately aggrieved ethnic enclaves which Washington then pays, supplies, arms, trains and guides. All which causes established regimes to respond with brute repression. Think of Israel as a cancer which increasingly saps the blood of the organs and systems and enervates and enfeebles to morbidity and incoherence the established body politic and prevents the emergence of any robust successor state or states.