Turkey: Turkish jets strike Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) kurds in Iraq and Islamic State in Syria
Turkish jets struck camps belonging to Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, authorities said Saturday, the first strikes since a peace deal was announced in 2013, and again bombed Islamic State positions in Syria.
The strikes in Iraq targeted the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, whose affiliates have been effective in battling the Islamic State group. The strikes further complicate the U.S.-led war against the extremists, which has relied on Kurdish ground forces making gains in Iraq and Syria.
A spokesman in Iraq for the PKK, which has been fighting Turkey for autonomy since 1984 and is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara and its allies, said the strikes likely spelled the end of the peace process.
“Turkey has basically ended the cease-fire,” Zagros Hiwa told The Associated Press. He said the first wave of strikes launched overnight Saturday didn’t appear to cause casualties.