Turkey targets Kurds in wake of deadly blast
Airstrikes hit northern Iraq, as police detain dozens of suspected militants in the southern city of Adana
ANKARA, TURKEY— Turkey lashed out Monday at Kurdish targets, bombing military positions in northern Iraq and rounding up dozens of militants at home after a suicide car bombing in the heart of the capital drew the country even deeper into the complex Syrian conflict.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there were “strong indications” that Sunday’s attack was carried out by the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Davutoglu added that authorities had detained 11 people directly connected to the suicide bombing near two bus stops that killed 37 people. DNA tests were underway to identify the bomber and another body believed to be that of a person who assisted, he said, and a senior government official has said the bomber was a woman.
“There are very serious, almostcertain indications that point to the separatist terror organization,” Davutoglu said in reference to the PKK.
The attack further complicated Turkey’s place in the region as it battles a host of enemies across its borders including the Syrian government, Kurdish rebels in both Iraq and Syria, and Daesh, also known as ISIS and ISIL, even after being forced to absorb 2.7 million refugees from the conflict.
Turkey is also battling the PKK, a Kurdish group fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey for three decades. A fragile, two-and-a-half-year peace process broke down in July. Turkey blames the PKK, saying it was inspired by the success of the Kurdish militia forces in Syria against Daesh in the city of Kobani and elsewhere. The PKK blames Turkey for failing to deliver on promises.
More than 200 people have died in five suicide bombings in Turkey since July that were blamed either on the Kurdish rebels or Daesh. Sunday’s attack was the second suicide bombing in the capital: a Feb. 17 attack for which a PKK offshoot claimed responsibility killed 29 people.
“All five attacks are linked to the fallout of the Syrian civil war,” said Soner Cagaptay, a Turkey expert at the Washington Institute. “Ankara’s ill-executed Syria policy . . . has exposed Turkey to great risks.”
Bill Park, a lecturer on Turkish foreign policy and security at King’s College London, said Ankara’s aggression toward the Kurds in Syria has angered Kurds inside Turkey and inspired attacks.
“Bombings in Turkey now look like a campaign and we have to assume that there will be more,” he said.
If the bombing was the work of a PKK-affiliated group, it could mark a shift in tactics, since the group had previously targeted Turkey’s security forces instead of civilians, said Otso Iho, a senior analyst at IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre.
He said, however, that “any potential escalation of PKK attacks on purely civilian or tourist targets would likely be somewhat tempered by the group’s awareness of the need to maintain its public image internationally.”
Turkey considers the PKK and the Kurdish militia in Syria to be one and the same, and has been pressing its U.S. allies to stop helping the Syrian Kurds. Washington considers the PKK a terrorist organization but has backed the Kurdish militia in Syria, which has been effective in fighting Daesh.