Turkey continued on Wednesday to target positions of Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, a prelude to a possible ground operation by Ankara to “secure” its southern border.
“Our determination to protect all of our southern borders […] by a security zone is stronger today than ever,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan again warned on Wednesday.
Turkey launched the operation on Sunday sword clawincreasing air raids and artillery fire against positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
The Turkish government accuses these two movements – which have denied – of having sponsored the attack which killed 6 people and injured 81 on November 13 in Istanbul.
“Turkey has the means to seek out and punish terrorists involved in attacks against [elle] inside and outside its borders”, launched Mr. Erdoğan in front of the group of his party, the AKP, in the Assembly.
Until then, he warned, “we will continue our air operations without interruption and we will enter the territory of the terrorists when we see fit”.
The Head of State specified his priority objectives, citing the Syrian localities of Tal Rifaat, Manbij and Ayn al-Arab (Kobane in Kurdish), with a view to establishing a security zone 30 km wide south of his border. .
The emblematic city of Kobané, a Kurdish stronghold of the YPG taken over in 2015 from the jihadists of the armed group Islamic State (IS) with Western support, was already targeted by Turkish artillery on Tuesday evening.
“Units on alert”
On Wednesday, the Turkish and American chiefs of staff discussed “ongoing developments”, according to the Turkish army, which gave no further details.
In an email sent to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the American military command for the Middle East (CENTCOM) affirmed that a Turkish strike perpetrated on Tuesday against a joint base of Kurdish forces and the international anti-jihadist coalition in northeast Syria had put US forces “in danger”.
CENTCOM said otherwise on Tuesday.
“The air raids should continue for a while”, before any ground operation, a senior Turkish official told AFP.
“Our military units are on alert,” added this source, on condition of anonymity, recalling that Turkish troops have been present in northern Syria “for three years”.
Kurdish officials and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) reported drone strikes on Wednesday at numerous points in Hassaké province, including a gas refinery and an oil pumping station.
A Kurdish fighter was killed and three others injured in a drone attack on an area with a Russian presence, a Kurdish forces official told AFP. A Russian soldier was also injured.
Turkish artillery also hit the surroundings of Jerkin prison in Qamichli, where jihadists from the IS group are detained, according to the OSDH and Kurdish officials.
“Punitive” strikes
According to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, “punitive” strikes by Turkish air force and artillery have targeted nearly 500 targets since Sunday.
“The only target of the Turkish armed forces is terrorists,” assured the minister. We have no problem with any ethnic or religious group, or with our Kurdish or Arab brothers. »
Ankara, which has been threatening since May to attack the positions of the PKK and the YPG, has insistently reaffirmed since Monday its intention to continue its operations by land – despite calls for calm from Washington and Moscow.
In addition, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated on Wednesday his accusations against the countries which gave them their support, implicitly targeting the United States.
“These powers which guaranteed us that there would be no threat from these regions under their control have not been able to keep their word”, he denounced.
“Therefore, we have the right to manage our own affairs” in Syria, he concluded.
Tuesday evening, YPG spokesman Nouri Mahmoud deplored the “timid declarations of the guarantor countries and the international coalition” which supported them, designating without naming them Washington and Moscow.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday after a tripartite meeting of the Astana Process on Syria, which brought together Russia, Turkey and Iran, the parties “underscored their strong support for the territorial integrity of Syria”.