Turkey launches new strikes in Syria, Iraq in retaliation for killings of its soldiers

ANKARA — Turkey on Friday launched a series of air strikes against US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) positions in northern Syria and Kurdish militants northern Iraq in retaliation for the killings of Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq.

Earlier on Friday, nine Turkish soldiers were killed and four others wounded as a result of an attack on a Turkish military base in northern Iraq by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). 

The Turkish Defense Ministry said 15 militants were “neutralized” during ongoing operations in the northern Iraqi regions of Metina, Hakurk, Gara and Qandil. 

In northern Syria, the ministry said a total of 29 targets — including caves, shelters and oil refineries used by the SDF — were “eliminated.” 

The PKK, which has been fighting Turkish forces for self-rule inside Turkey since 1984, is considered to be a terrorist organization by Ankara, Washington and the majority of European capitals. Ankara also deems the SDF — the US’ top ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria — a threat to its national security, citing its links to the PKK. 

Canceling his previous plans, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a national security meeting in Istanbul on Saturday following the killings of the Turkish soldiers, the president’s communication czar Fahrettin Altun said. 

Turkish foreign, defense and interior ministers, Hakan Fidan, Yasar Guler, Ali Yerlikaya; Metin Gurak, the chief of Turkish armed forces; and Ibrahim Kalin, the head of the Turkish intelligence agency will join the meeting.

Friday’s strikes mark the second escalation between Turkey and the SDF in a less than a month. Late December, Turkey conducted large-scale airstrikes on the SDF-controlled areas in northern Syria in response to the killings of 12 Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq by the PKK.

As the Turkish strikes were going on, SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami struck a defiant tone. “We will win and defeat the enemy. We will not hesitate to resist and struggle, and the Revenge will not be late,” he posted in Kurdish in a post on social media platform X.

Meanwhile, a celebratory post by former SDF spokesperson Mustafa Bali on X in the wake of the killings of Turkish soldiers drew harsh reactions from Turks who used the post to refute the United States’ argument that the PKK is different from the People’s Defense Units (YPG) — the backbone of the Kurdish-led SDF.

Charles Lister, director of the Syria Program at the Middle East Institute, also pointed out that the post would complicate de-escalation efforts by Washington.

“Problematic, to say the least — and a pain in the neck for folks in State/DOD trying to de-escalate,” he wrote on X.

The escalation comes as Ankara and Washington are increasingly at odds over their positions on the Hamas-Israel war.

Erdogan, who has accused Israel of “committing genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza, also criticized the Biden administration for what he described as its unequivocal support of the Jewish states’ actions in the Palestinian enclave.

Unlike the United States and European Union, Turkey doesn’t deem Hamas a terror outfit.

Speaking earlier Friday, Erdogan also lashed out at Washington and London over strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen in response to the Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the region. “They are trying to turn the Red Sea into a bloodbath,” he said.