Turkey announced on Sunday (20) that it carried out air strikes against Kurdish bases in northern Syria and Iraq, saying that these locations were used by terrorists to carry out attacks on Turkish territory.
The offensive, called Operation Claw-Sword, is a response to an attack that took place last Sunday (13) in central Istanbul, which killed six people and left 81 injured. The Turkish government blames the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) for the attack.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), a British organization with a wide network of sources in Syria, there were more than 20 attacks against positions in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Raqqa, in the north, and Hasaka, in the northeast of the country.
A balance released Sunday by a Syrian NGO says that the attack left at least 31 dead, mostly Kurdish fighters and Syrian soldiers. Kurdish authorities reported 29 deaths, including 11 civilians. The OSDH could not confirm the civilian deaths. The Syrian agency SANA confirmed the death of soldiers without specifying the number.
According to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, the bombings targeted strategic positions of the PKK and the Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara considers an extension of the PKK.
On Twitter, the Ministry of Defense says that “the time for reckoning has come”, referring to the offensive against Syria and Iraq. “Bastards must be held accountable for their perfidious attacks,” reads the message, alongside an image of a plane taking off for a night operation.
While Ankara has not revealed details about the operation, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said the city of Kobane, in northeast Syria, was among the targets hit.
A Syrian city with a Kurdish majority and close to the border with Turkey, Kobane was captured by the Islamic State (IS) in late 2014. The Kurds expelled the extremist group in early 2015.
“Kobane, the city that defeated the Islamic State, is being bombed by the occupying Turkish Air Force,” wrote Farhad Shami, spokesman for the SDF, on Twitter.
The commander of the SDF, Mazloum Abdi, says that “Turkish bombings in our safe zones threaten the whole region”.
“This bombing does not play in anyone’s favor. We are making every effort to avoid a major catastrophe. If war breaks out, everyone will be affected”, he adds.
According to Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, the order for the attack in Istanbul came from the region of Kobane.
Turkey has carried out attacks in Syria since 2016 against Kurdish militias and IS extremists.
Since May 2022, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been threatening to launch an operation in northern Syria to create a “safe zone” 30 km south of the border.
The US State Department has expressed fears of “possible military action by Turkey” and has recommended that its citizens not travel to northern Syria and Iraq.
Last week’s attack was the most violent in the country in a period of five years, since the wave of attacks between 2015 and 2017, actions attributed to Kurdish militants and extremists from the Islamic State group (IS).
No group officially claimed the attack. The PKK, which has led a decades-long insurgency in Turkey, and the YPG have denied any involvement in the action.
According to Istanbul police, a Syrian woman was arrested the same day as the attack as a possible perpetrator. Ahlam Albashir, arrested during a night raid in suburban Istanbul, allegedly worked for Kurdish militants.
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