Accusing Kurds of bombing Ankara, Türkiye retaliates

(Baonghean.vn) - Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish bases in northern Iraq on the night of February 17 local time, hours after a suicide bombing on a military bus killed 28 soldiers and civilians in the capital Ankara, Turkey.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu accused the Syrian Kurdish YPG armed rebel group of coordinating with Kurdish fighters in Türkiye to carry out the recent bombing in the capital Ankara. He also vowed to retaliate against Kurdish armed groups operating in both Syria and Iraq.

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire after a terrorist attack in Ankara, Türkiye, February 17, 2016.

Very quickly, just a few hours after the attack, Turkish warplanes bombed bases of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq. This is also an armed group with a 3-decade "history" of fighting the Turkish government.

Ankara also cited the recent bombing as evidence that the Kurdish YPG armed group, which the US supports in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria, is a terrorist organization, and asked allied countries to support Türkiye in dealing with this armed group - as a support for a NATO ally.

PKK leader Cemil Bayik said he did not know who was responsible for the attack and suggested the developments could be retaliation for the "Kurdistan massacre", which involves Kurdish regions in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. Meanwhile, the PYD - the political arm of the YPG - denied involvement in the Ankara bombing.

The Turkish air force bombing raid was considered one of the fiercest attacks by Türkiye on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) since a ceasefire between the two sides collapsed in July 2015.

Thanh Hien

(According to Reuters)