Turkey Hits Syria, And Iraq After Strikes On Defence Company Near Ankara (X image @Mehristani)
Turkey’s Air Force reportedly struck targets in Iraq and Syria. The attack is apparently taken as a retaliation on key state-run defence company in Ankara, which killed five people and injured more than 20.
The Ministry of National Defence said 47 targets were “destroyed” in the aerial offensive on Wednesday. Details on the location of attacks were not specified. The Ministry said “all kinds of precautions” were taken to prevent civilian harm. It also said that “59 militants…were neutralised,” term usually used to mean killed, in the strikes.
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According to Turkey’s Defence Minister Yasar Guler, Ankara has hit 29 targets in northern Iraq and 18 in northern Syria.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said that Turkish air attacks in northern and eastern Syria killed 12 civilians, including two children, and wounded 25 people.
The SDF is spearheaded by Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Including its Arab fighters, the SDF has been a major partner for the US-led coalition against ISIL (ISIS). The group controls a quarter of Syria, including oil fields and areas where some 900 US soldiers are deployed.
Turkey called the YPG a terrorist organisation, which is closely tied to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK). Turkey blames PKK for the attack on its defence company. Reportedly, during the attack, the fighters set off explosives and opened fire at the aerospace, and defence company TUSAS, situated near Ankara. The company designs and manufactures civilian and military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other defence industry and space systems.
There was no immediate statement from the PKK, and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Turkey state news agency Anadolu reported that security was tightened at the TUSAS headquarters on Thursday, with forces searching vehicles and checking people’s identities. Two major airports of Istanbul also stepped up security.
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The attack on TUSAS came a day after Devlet Bahceli, the leader of Turkey’s far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) allied with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). It also raised the possibility that PKK’s imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan could be granted parole if he renounces violence and disbands his organisation.
Reportedly, Turkey regularly conducts air attacks against the PKK in Iraq and against a Kurdish group in Syria affiliated with the PKK. The UAVs produced by TUSAS have been instrumental in Turkey gaining the upper hand in its fight against Kurdish fighters.
