Turkish jets launched their heaviest assault on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq overnight since air strikes began last week, hours after President Tayyip Erdogan said a peace process had become impossible.
The strikes hit Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets including shelters, depots and caves in six areas, a statement from Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s office said. A senior official told Reuters it was the biggest assault since the campaign started.
Iraq condemned the air strikes as a “dangerous escalation and an assault on Iraqi sovereignty.”
Turkey launched near-simultaneous strikes against PKK camps in Iraq and Islamic State fighters in Syria last Friday, in what Davutoglu has called a “synchronised fight against terror.”
Engaging in conflicts on two fronts is a high-risk strategy for the NATO member, leaving it exposed to the threat of reprisals by jihadists and Kurdish militants. Germany warned yesterday about possible attacks on Istanbul’s underground rail network and bus stops.
Turkey has also opened its air bases to the US-led coalition against Islamic State, joining the front-line in the battle against the jihadists after years of reluctance. NATO gave Turkey full political support on Tuesday.
But Turkey’s assaults on the PKK have so far been much heavier than its strikes against Islamic State, fuelling suspicions that its real agenda is keeping Kurdish political and territorial ambitions in check, something the government denies.
Of the 1,302 people arrested in what officials have described as a “full-fledged battle against terrorist groups” in recent days, 847 are accused of links to the PKK and just 137 to Islamic State, government spokesman Bulent Arinc said.
Turkey has also made clear that its operations against Islamic State in Syria will not include air cover for Syrian Kurdish fighters also battling the jihadists.
The chairman of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition HDP party, Selahattin Demirtas, whose lawmakers Erdogan wants to see prosecuted for alleged links to the PKK, called for an immediate halt to violence on both sides.
“We have to establish democratic pressure that will help silence the guns immediately. We are ready to work with all politicians who want to achieve this,” he told reporters.
