Turkish airstrikes kill 49 militants
Offensive leaves US with few good options, analysts say
ISTANBUL — Turkish warplanes struck 19 Kurdistan Workers’ Party targets in northern Iraq on Monday, killing 49 militants, Turkey’s armed forces said on Thursday.
Two airstrikes were carried out in the Asos/Qandil, Zap, Avasin/Basyan and Hakurk regions on Monday, the army said in a written statement.
The Turkish military destroyed shelters, hideouts and weapon positions of the militant group, which was believed to be preparing an attack on Turkish border posts, it said.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has been waging an insurgency in southeast Turkey since the 1980s, is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
Meanwhile, Syria’s Kurdish militia is growing frustrated with its patron, the US, and is pressing it to do more to stop Turkey’s assault on a key stronghold in Syria.
The issue reflects a deeper concern among the Kurds over their alliance with the US, which proved vital to defeating the Islamic State group in Syria. The Kurds fear that ultimately they and their dream of self-rule will be the losers in the big powers’ play over influence in Syria.
The Kurdish militia views defending the Kurdish enclave of Afrin as an existential fight to preserve their territory. Afrin has major significance — it’s one of the first Kurdish areas to rise up against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and back self-ruler.
The Turkish offensive, which began on Jan 20, has so far killed more than 60 civilians and dozens of fighters on both sides, and displaced thousands.
“How can they stand by and watch?” Aldar Khalil, a senior Kurdish politician said of the US-led coalition against IS. “They should meet their obligations toward this force that participated with them (in the fight against terrorism). We consider their unclear and indecisive positions as a source of concern.”
The fight for Afrin leaves Washington with few good options. The US has little leverage and no troops in Afrin, which is located in a pocket of Kurdish control at the western edge of Syria’s border with Turkey and is cut off from the rest of Kurdish-held territory by a Turkish-held enclave.
The area is also crowded with other players. Russian troops were based there to prevent friction with Turkey until they withdrew ahead of the offensive, and the area — home to more than 300,000 civilians — is surrounded by territory held by Syrian government forces or al-Qaidalinked militants.
For its part, Turkey views the YPG as an extension of its own Kurdish insurgent groups and has vowed to “purge” them from its borders.
While the US may distance itself from the fighting in Afrin, it can’t sit by silently if Turkey goes ahead with its threat to expand the fight to Manbij, a Syrian town to the east where US troops are deployed alongside Kurdish forces that took the town from IS in 2016.
One option could be to seek a compromise with Turkey by withdrawing US and Kurdish forces from Manbij, said Elizabeth Teoman, a Turkey specialist with the Institute for the Study of War.
“The Turks may accept that as an intermediate step, but the US will consistently face threats of escalation from Turkey as long as we maintain our partnership with the Syrian Kurdish YPG,” Teoman said.