BEIRUT (AP) – Turkish warplanes flew into Iraq on Wednesday, hours after the foreign minister warned that Turkey would strike militant positions in Syria and Iraq in retaliation for a suicide bombing in Ankara earlier this week. launched new airstrikes against Kurdish militant targets. .
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack. Attack outside Ankara Ministry of Interior One of the attackers blew himself up, and the would-be bomber was also killed in a gunfight with police. Two police officers were injured in the attack.
Turkish warplanes targeted 22 suspected PKK strongholds in northern Iraq on Wednesday, destroying caves, shelters and warehouses used by the insurgents, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said. The PKK maintains a stronghold in the region and has a leadership foothold there.
It was the third time for the Turkish Air Force. Air strikes against suspected Kurdish militant positions The attack in northern Iraq comes as parliament prepares to reconvene after a long summer recess.Meanwhile, dozens of People suspected of having ties to the PKK They have been detained in a series of attacks across Turkey.
The Turkish government said a large number of PKK militants were “neutralized” in the attack.
Iraqi Kurdish officials were not immediately available for comment.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a news conference that Turkish intelligence had established that the two attackers arrived from Syria, where they had been receiving training. He said Turkey would now target facilities in Syria and Iraq belonging to the Syrian Kurdish militia PKK, known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG), or its affiliates.
“From now on, all infrastructure, superstructures and energy facilities belonging to the PKK or YPG in Iraq and Syria will be legitimate targets for our security forces, military and intelligence services,” Fidan said. “Our military’s response to this terrorist attack has been very clear and they will regret having committed such an act.”
Syria’s Kurdish commander denied on Wednesday that the Turkish government attackers received training in Syria or entered Turkey from Syria.
Mazloum Abdi, commander of the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which controls much of northeastern Syria, said those carrying out the attack in Ankara “did not pass through our territory.” he tweeted.
Syria’s Kurdish-led forces are a coalition of several factions, including the YPG.
“We are not on Turkey’s side in its internal conflict,” Abdi wrote. He added that Turkey is “looking for excuses to justify continued attacks on our region and launch new invasions, which worries us.”
Abdi, who is wanted by Turkey on terrorism charges, said targeting infrastructure and economic targets in northeastern Syria and cities “is considered a war crime.”
Fidan then took part in a previously unannounced security meeting with Turkey’s interior minister, defense minister, supreme military commander and intelligence chief, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Iraqi Defense Minister Thabet Mohammed al-Abbasi is scheduled to visit Turkey on Thursday, the agency reported.
The PKK has led a decades-long insurgency in Turkey and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the conflict began in 1984.
Meanwhile, Turkish intelligence has killed a wanted Kurdish militant in an operation in Syria, state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Wednesday.
The militant, identified as Nabo Kele Heyli (also known as Mazlum Afrin), was wanted for his alleged involvement in planning an attack on Istiklal, Istanbul’s main pedestrian thoroughfare, last year. Six people were killed in the attack.
