Turkish military forces again attacked targets in northern Syria a few days after the attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Ankara, BTA reported, according to information from DPA.
The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced on its X profile that Turkey bombed positions of the Kurdish People’s Protection Forces (PDF) militia, “eliminating 15 terrorists”.
The attack comes on the heels of a PKK attack targeting buildings of the Turkish national aerospace company TUSAS in Ankara. Five people were killed and 22 injured in the attack. The PKK claimed responsibility for the attack.
Ankara accuses the Kurdish militia People’s Defense Forces (PDF) and its political wing the Democratic Union (PYD) of having ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said today that since Wednesday at least 17 civilians have been killed and 60 others wounded in Turkish attacks in northern Syria.
All information cannot be independently verified, DPA notes.
The PKK has been waging an armed struggle against the Turkish state since 1984 and is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara, the European Union and the United States.
According to the International Crisis Group, since 2019 the conflict has shifted from Turkey to northern Iraq and northern Syria as the Turkish military continues to push back PKK fighters.
Turkey has occupied border areas in northern Syria as a result of several military operations and is cooperating with rebel groups.
Tens of thousands of people have already died in the conflict. The peace process failed in 2015. Speculation of a new rapprochement between the Turkish government and the PKK emerged shortly before the attack in Ankara.