Turkey Strikes Kurdish Targets in Iraq and Syria After Deadly Attack on Defence Company
Turkey’s Air Force has launched airstrikes on Kurdish targets in Iraq and Syria, apparently in retaliation for an attack on a key state-run defense company that killed five people and injured over 20, Al Jazeera reports.
The Ministry of National Defence confirmed the airstrikes, saying that 32 targets were “destroyed” without specifying their locations. The Ministry claimed that “all kinds of precautions” were taken to avoid civilian casualties.
The strikes came hours after suspected Kurdish fighters detonated explosives and opened fire at TUSAS, a major aerospace and defense company responsible for designing, manufacturing, and assembling civilian and military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and other defense systems.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya blamed the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for the attack, a claim echoed by Defence Minister Yasar Guler. The PKK has been engaged in an ongoing conflict with Turkey seeking autonomy in the country’s southeast.
The attack occurred a day after Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), a key ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), suggested that imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan could be granted parole if he renounced violence and disbanded his organization.
Erdogan condemned the “heinous terrorist attack” during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit in Russia. The Iraqi embassy in Ankara issued a statement condemning the attack on TUSAS, reaffirming Iraq’s rejection of terrorism and expressing solidarity with Turkey. Earlier this year, Iraq banned the PKK.
Turkey frequently carries out airstrikes against PKK targets in both Iraq and Syria, particularly against a Kurdish group affiliated with the PKK in Syria. The UAVs produced by TUSAS have proven crucial in Turkey’s fight against Kurdish fighters.
The PKK, considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, has been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey since the 1980s, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands. The country’s main pro-Kurdish Democratic Peoples’ Party (HDP), while condemning the attack on TUSAS, noted the timing of the incident, coinciding with the emergence of potential dialogue to end the conflict.
