Erdogan says Turkey's strikes in Syria, Iraq may lead to ground offensive
As the dust settles from airstrikes on Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq, Turkey is threatening a wider operation in the region.
ISTANBUL — For months Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to “come suddenly in the night” for Kurdish militants on Turkey’s southern border. On Saturday night, scores of F-16 fighter jets and drones did exactly that.
The air operation, "Claw-Sword," was ostensibly launched in response to the Nov. 13 bomb attack on Istanbul’s Istiklal Street that killed six people and wounded over 80 others.
Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin drew a direct link between the blast and the airstrikes, tweeting a photograph of the Turkish flag with the comment, “Payback time for Istiklal.” Turkish air force ground crews wrote the names of two children killed in the atrocity on bombs to be dropped.
The air raids, which set off from bases in southern Turkey just before midnight Saturday, targeted Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq that Ankara has identified as responsible for the Istanbul attack — the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian People’s Protection Units (YPG). Both groups have denied involvement.
