Highlights:
- July 25, 2015- Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced the successful airstrikes on ISIL in Syria and PKK in Iraq in counter-terrorism operation
- Targets of the assault were camps, shelters, caves and logistics points
- Operations held simultaneously with crackdown on the ground that has led to the arrest of over 320 terrorists with at least 35 foreigners
- The ISIL-PKK takfiri terrorist groups received a boost from US-led coalition
Background:
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistane) commonly reffered in its Kurdish acronym PKK is a terrorist organization that is mainly based in Turkey and Iraq.
It has been in existence since 1978 as an armed struggled by the Kurds in Turkey to push for the cultural and political rights of the Kurds who make up 10-25 % of the Turkey’s population.
PKK’s end mission was to form a Kurdistan a state for the Kurds found both in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. This led to the emergence of a democratic confederalism that would see the Kurds draw power from themselves without belonging to any state which created a conflict that led to their branding as a terrorist organization.
Analysis:
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu early on Saturday 25th July announced the successful assault on the Islamic State takfiri in Syria and Kurdish fighter PKK in Iraq.
The operation was targeted as the terrorists’ camps, shelters, caves, and logistics points especially in the mountainous Northern region in Iraq and across the border to Syria.
The airstrikes conducted by the F-16 jets was back by land artillery enforcements at the Turkish borders. The assault is a fulfillment of Turkey’s commitment of peace and security for its populace.
The airstrikes were preceded by suicide attack on Monday that claimed 32 lives in the Sanliurfa province.
Mr. Davutoglu announced that at least 320 terrorists have been arrested with among them at least 37 foreigners in a nationwide anti-terrorism operation with the detained linked to ISIL, PKK and DHKP-C operating in Turkey.
Forecast:
Turkey has made bold attempts to fight the terrorist groups in the region especially in the recent past drawing back from allowing the United States to use her air bases to conduct airstrikes on ISIL in Syria.
The operations have come at such a time that Turkey has been accused of being ISIL-tolerant. The airstrikes and the support by the US-led coalition refute all the claims and re-establishes Turkey’s pledge in the war against terrorism.
Turkish forces are also expected to take part in the coalition airstrikes that will see the use of The US manned and unmanned drones based in Turkey.
