ISTANBUL – In a calculated response to a recent attack in the nation’s capital, Turkey has initiated a fresh wave of airstrikes targeting Kurdish strongholds in Iraq. The Turkish government, following a national security meeting attended by top defense and intelligence officials, is warning of increasingly intense cross-border air raids.
The attack in question occurred in Ankara’s government district over the weekend, where police successfully neutralized one assailant, while the other resorted to an apparent suicide blast outside the Turkish Interior Ministry, injuring two security officers.
Claiming responsibility for this devastating event is a branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), marking the first bombing in Ankara since 2016.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, in a televised address, revealed critical information regarding the origins of the attackers. “It has become clear that the two terrorists came from Syria and were trained there,” he stated. Fidan went on to assert that “all infrastructure, large facilities, and energy installations” affiliated with armed Kurdish groups in Iraq and Syria are now considered legitimate targets for Turkish security forces. He further cautioned against any third-party involvement in these facilities.
Turkey swiftly responded to the attack by launching air raids against PKK rear bases situated in the northern mountains of Iraq, mere hours after the incident occurred. The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that they had conducted another significant raid, successfully “neutralizing a substantial number of terrorists” across five districts in Iraq.
As tensions continue to mount, Iraqi Defense Minister Thabet al-Abbasi is scheduled to engage in talks with his Turkish counterpart, Yasar Guler, in Ankara on Thursday.
Foreign Minister Fidan’s statements strongly imply that Turkey may escalate its drone and artillery strikes, expanding beyond the routine operations it has been conducting in both Syria and Iraq over the past decade.
Adding to the complexity of the situation, reports emerged from Turkish media indicating that Turkey’s MIT intelligence agency executed an operation in Syria, resulting in the demise of one of the suspected masterminds behind a November 2022 Istanbul bombing, which claimed six lives.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has confirmed the death of an “intelligence official” in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northeastern Syria on Tuesday, potentially linked to Turkish military activities in the area. Ankara maintains military bases and supports various groups engaged in conflict against both regime forces and Kurdish factions within Syria.
By AFP
