Turkey VS PKK, IS: Turkey to Kill 2 Birds With One Stone

• 07.26.2015, 21:20
•  Region,  World

It seems Turkey faces quite difficult times… In addition to the internal not so favorable situation, concerning the coalition talks and the formation of the new government, the stability of the country is now threatened by the Islamic State militants. After the suicide attack in Suruc near the Syrian border, Turkey started carrying out its first airstrikes against the IS. Moreover, the airstrikes are directed not only against the IS, but also against the PKK in northern Iraq, which is not being hidden by the Turkish authorities. The official statement of Turkey, as The Guardian informs, says in this regard: "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."

In addition to the airstrikes, Turkish police, as Al Jazeera reports, has started detaining suspected ISIL and Kurdish fighters in cities and towns across the country. According to yesterday’s information, the number of detained is already 600.  

After these years of negotiations between the PKK and Turkey and the ceasefire reached in 2013, this is the first large scale operation against the PKK, which, of course has raised a lot of concerns. According to Reuters' reports more than 1,000 people gathered in the center of Ankara to express their protest against the strikes in Syria and northern Iraq. In addition, the spokesman of PKK in Iraq Bakhtiar Dogan declared that, it seems, Erdogan wants war and in such a situation when they are being bombed, "the ceasefire has no meaning anymore," Hurriyet reports. In his turn, the President of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Masoud Barzani had a telephone conversation with Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu, who as KRG statement says, requested not to escalate the situation, adding that "peace is the only way to solve problems and years of negotiations are better than one hour of war."  In response, however, Davutoglu said that "the operation is not against any ethnicity of northern Iraq," rudaw.net reports. However, according to Hurriyet, Davitoglu has also declared that "these operations are not 'one-point operations' and will continue as long as there is a threat against Turkey." 

Everything seems to becoming much serious than one could imagine. After for so much time refusing to join the US-led coalition against the IS, now it has given its agreement. Moreover, as The Guardian reports, Turkey has allowed the US-led coalition to use its Incirlik airbase and other bases in the south of the country to conduct strikes against IS. There is also information that the US and Turkey have agreed on creating no-fly zone in Northern Syria, which, however, is not confirmed yet.

As for Turkey’s joining the US-led coalition, maybe, it was high time for that. What refers to the Turkish strikes against the PKK, it really jeopardizes the ceasefire reached with such difficulty, which from time to time was being violated by small clashes. But doesn’t Turkey understand this? Of course, it does. Maybe this incident in Suruc was a "good reason" for Turkey to deal with its long-years’ problem. A good opportunity for Turkey? Most likely - Yes, it could kill 2 birds with one stone.