Turkish air strikes target Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq

The Turkish defence ministry has carried out air strikes on outlawed Kurdish militant bases in northern Syria and northern Iraq. Turkish government has blamed Kurdish militants for the blast on Istanbul's Istiklal Avenue on Nov. 13 that killed six people.

Reuters - Duvar English

The Turkish defence ministry said early on Nov. 20 it carried out air strikes on outlawed Kurdish militant bases in northern Syria and northern Iraq, which it said were used to carry out attacks on Turkey.

The strikes targeted bases of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey says is a wing of the PKK, the ministry added in a statement.

Turkey said on Nov. 15 it plans to pursue targets in northern Syria after it completes a cross-border operation against the PKK militants in Iraq, following a deadly bomb last weekend in Istanbul.

The government has blamed Kurdish militants for the blast on Istanbul's Istiklal Avenue on Nov. 13 that killed six people and injured more than 80. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast on the busy pedestrian avenue, and the PKK and SDF have denied involvement.

Welcoming the strikes, the opposition right-wing Good (İYİ) Party spokesperson Kürşad Zorlu said in a tweet that "We wish success to our heroic soldiers in the operations carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces in Syria and the north of Iraq. As İYİ Party, we consider our border security indispensable for cross-border operations in the fight against terrorism, which we see above politics!"

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said late on Nov. 19 that Turkish aircraft shelled two villages populated with internally displaced people in northern Syria.

Turkey has conducted three incursions so far into northern Syria against the YPG militia. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has previously said Turkey could conduct another operation against the YPG.