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Turkey carries out first ever strikes against Isis in Syria Turkey carries out first ever strikes against Isis in Syria
(about 2 hours later)
Related: Turkey to let anti-Isis coalition use air base after soldier's death Turkish fighter jets have struck Islamic State targets in Syria and the government has rounded up hundreds of suspected militants in a coordinated crackdown as the country deployed military force for the first time against the terrorist group.
Turkish fighter jets have struck Islamic State targets in Syria and the government has rounded up hundreds of suspected militants in a coordinated crackdown as the country deployed military force for the first time against the terror group. Related: US deal with Turkey over Isis may go beyond simple use of an airbase
The bombing is a strong tactical shift for Turkey, which has long been reluctant to follow the US-led coalition into taking military action against Isis.The bombing is a strong tactical shift for Turkey, which has long been reluctant to follow the US-led coalition into taking military action against Isis.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s office said Turkish F-16 warplanes based in Diyarbakir attacked three Isis targets with guided bombs at dawn on Friday, including what it described as headquarters of the militant group and an assembly point. The office of the acting prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, said Turkish F-16 warplanes based in Diyarbakır had attacked three Isis targets with guided bombs at dawn on Friday, including what it described as headquarters of the militant group and an assembly point.
Turkey is also to allow the US-led coalition to use its Incirlik airbase to conduct strikes against Isis in a reversal of policy that follows a cross-border attack by the militants that killed a Turkish soldier and a suicide bombing this week that killed 32 people in the southern province of Suruç, just a few miles from the border.Turkey is also to allow the US-led coalition to use its Incirlik airbase to conduct strikes against Isis in a reversal of policy that follows a cross-border attack by the militants that killed a Turkish soldier and a suicide bombing this week that killed 32 people in the southern province of Suruç, just a few miles from the border.
Davutoğlu’s office further announced that Turkish police have detained at least 297 people in orchestrated raids across the country, targeting suspected cells of Isis and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). In Istanbul, one female member of the radical leftist DHKP-C was reportedly killed during the operation. Reports in the Turkish media said the deal with the US had included the establishment of a no-fly zone in northern Syria, a long-standing demand of the Turkish government the US had resisted.
On the day of the Suruç bombing one Turkish soldier was killed during a PKK attack in Adiyaman, while two police officers were found dead in an apartment in Ceylanpinar on Tuesday. The PKK claimed responsibility for the killings of the policemen, saying the officers were shot “in retaliation for the suicide bomb in Suruç”. In Istanbul and Adana, two men suspected to be Isis members were killed by attackers with ties to the PKK, according to Turkish media reports. The air strikes and raids come as a wave of deadly violence – including the attack in Suruç and the cross-border attack by Isis – threatens to draw Turkey further into the Syrian quagmire.
The statement from Davutoğlu’s office said the raids were conducted “without distinction” against all terrorist groups in 13 provinces. Tension has also risen to dangerous levels in the predominantly Kurdish south-east, where many have long accused the AKP government, led by the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, of directly supporting Isis against the Kurdish struggle in Syria, a charge Ankara vehemently denies.
Related: US deal with Turkey over Isis may go beyond simple use of an airbase Related: Turkey to let anti-Isis coalition use air base after soldier's death
On the day of the Suruç bombing one Turkish soldier was killed during a PKK attack in Adıyaman, while two police officers were found dead in an apartment in Ceylanpınar on Tuesday. The PKK claimed responsibility for the killings of the policemen, saying the officers were shot “in retaliation for the suicide bomb in Suruç”. In Istanbul and Adana, two men suspected to be Isis members were killed by attackers with ties to the PKK, according to Turkish media reports.
Davutoğlu said on Friday that the detention of almost 300 people linked to both Isis and the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) in raids across the country was just the beginning of a wider operation.
“In yesterday’s security meetings we brought together the relevant security units, and we decided on precautions to take. The operations that began today are not singular, they are part of a process,” he told reporters.
A statement said the raids were conducted “without distinction” against all terrorist groups in 13 provinces.
“The State of the Turkish Republic is adamant on fighting all terrorism without distinction as it has always done, be it the terrorist organisation of Daesh [Isis], the terrorist organisation of the PKK or any other international terrorist organisation,” the statement read.“The State of the Turkish Republic is adamant on fighting all terrorism without distinction as it has always done, be it the terrorist organisation of Daesh [Isis], the terrorist organisation of the PKK or any other international terrorist organisation,” the statement read.
In Istanbul several Isis members were detained, many of whom are reported to be foreigners. According to the Turkish daily Milliyet, ammunition, weapons and Molotov cocktails were seized in several cities during the operation. In Istanbul several Isis members were detained, many of whom are reported to be foreigners. According to the Turkish daily Milliyet, ammunition, weapons and Molotov cocktails were seized in several cities during the operation. The prime minister’s office said 37 of those taken into custody were foreigners.
The air strikes and raids come as a wave of deadly violence – including the attack in Suruç, the PKK killings and the cross-border attack by Isis – threatens to draw Turkey further into the Syrian quagmire. Friday morning’s bombings followed a decision by Turkey to open the key Inçirlik airbase near the border with Syria for its western allies launching air strikes against Isis targets in Syria. Turkey, a Nato member, had long resisted calls by Barack Obama’s administration to allow the coalition to use bases in the country as staging grounds for coalition air raids.
Tension has risen dangerously in the predominantly Kurdish south-east, where many have long accused the AKP government, led by president Reçep Tayyip Erdoğan, of directly supporting Isis against the Kurdish struggle in Syria, a charge Ankara vehemently denies. Erdoğan confirmed the agreement, which he said allowed for operations “within a certain framework” but did not elaborate on the agreement’s details. Turkish media, however, reported that the establishment of a buffer zone inside Syria had been agreed.
On Thursday a traffic policeman was shot on duty by unknown assailants in the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir. The daily Hürriyet, citing senior Turkish sources, said the deal included a partial no-fly zone covering a 90km strip between the Syrian towns of Marea and Jarabulus to the east that would be approximately 50km deep. If established, Syrian warplanes will be prohibited from entering the no-fly zone and will be shot down if they do.
Friday morning’s bombings followed a decision by Turkey to open the key Inçirlik air base near the border with Syria for its western allies launching air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria. The Turkish government has long been pushing for a no-fly zone running alongside its border inside Syria, but has until now not been successful at convincing its western allies, headed by the US, to establish a secure strip inside the neighbouring country.
American officials told the New York Times they had reached a “game changer” agreement with Turkey that would allow the US-led coalition against Isis to use manned and unmanned aircraft to strike at the militants from air bases in Incirlik and Diyarbakir. According to Hürriyet it is not clear if the buffer zone will be broadened in the future. Some critics had accused the Turkish government of wanting to establish a buffer zone in northern Syria to weaken growing Kurdish autonomy in the region.
Erdoğan confirmed the agreement, which he said allowed for operations “within a certain framework”. He did not elaborate on the agreement’s details. The sources cited by the newspaper said the Syrian-Kurdish Democratic Union party (PYD) and the Kurdish militias of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) would not be targeted unless “they threatened Turkish borders” or tried to “change the demographic” in Syria.
Turkey, a Nato member, had long resisted calls by Barack Obama’s administration to allow the coalition to use bases in the country as staging grounds for coalition air raids. The leftist and pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic party (HDP) slammed the buffer zone as an attempt by Ankara to weaken the Kurdish opposition in Syria, warning that such a move would endanger the ongoing peace talks between the Turkish government and the PKK. The HDP also criticised Friday’s anti-terror raids as an attempt to “whitewash the AKP’s failed Syria policies”.
Turkish media reported on Friday that the deal with the US foresees a 56-mile no-fly-zone along the Syrian border to back up a “safe zone” on the ground aimed at preventing infiltration by Isis and other jihadis and to discourage a new flow of refugees to Turkey. “Why have the perpetrators [of the bombings in Suruç and Diyarbakır] not been detained? Why have there not been operations against Isis sleeper cells in Turkey? How could [the government] be believable in their fight against Isis when the pro-government media are still using the most abject hate speech against our party, while they cannot say a thing against Isis?” the HDP’s press statement asked.
Turkey had previously insisted on a no-fly-zone in exchange for US use of its airbases, but US officials said on Thursday it was not part of the deal. It remains unclear when the Incirlik airbase will be opened to the US, but Turkish media said that it would be “very soon”, with some predicting the first allied warplanes to take off in August. Additional airbases in the nearby cities of Diyarbakır and Batman will be opened to allied planes for emergencies.
Davutoğlu underlined that Damascus has not been informed about Turkey’s new security strategy. “Decisions concerning Turkey are made in Ankara,” he said. “But we informed our allies.”