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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish warplanes have carried out airstrikes on sites believed to be used by U.S.-backed Kurdish militant groups in northern Syria after the U.S. military shot down an armed Turkish drone that came within 500 meters (yards) of American troops. Turkey has been carrying out strikes on Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and Syria following a suicide attack outside the Interior Ministry building in the Turkish capital earlier this week. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the two assailants had arrived from Syria, where they had been trained. He said PKK and YPG positions in Iraq and Syria had now become legitimate targets. Political Cartoons View All 1202 ImagesIn Washington, the Pentagon said Thursday that the Turkish drone bombed targets near the U.S. troops in Syria, forcing them to go to bunkers for safety.

Persons: Tal, Hakan Fidan, Patrick Ryder, “, Lloyd Austin, CQ Brown Organizations: Turkish, U.S, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, PKK, Kurdish, Interior Ministry, Washington, Pentagon, Air Force, NATO, Joint Chiefs, Islamic Locations: ANKARA, Turkey, U.S, Syria, Turkish, YPG, Iraq, State, Syrian, Homs, Dabik, United States

The military "neutralised" 26 Kurdish militants in northern Syria overnight in retaliation for a rocket attack on a Turkish base, the defence ministry said. Turkey also conducted air strikes and destroyed 30 militant targets elsewhere in northern Syria, including an oil well, a storage facility and shelters, the defence ministry said. Turkey said the attackers came from Syria but the Syrian SDF forces denied this. The Turkish foreign ministry statement said that one of Turkey's drones was lost during operations against Kurdish militants in northeast Syria due to "different technical evaluations" with third parties on the ground. Turkey has mounted several previous incursions into northern Syria against the YPG.

Persons: Ali Yerlikaya, Daren Butler, Huseyin Hayatsever, Jonathan Spicer, Nick Macfie Organizations: Syrian Kurdish, Kurdistan Workers Party, Syrian SDF, European Union, SDF, Islamic State, Pentagon, NATO, Kurdish, Thomson Locations: Turkey, Syria, Ankara, ISTANBUL, Turkish, Kurdish, Syrian, Syria's, Iraq, Agri, TURKISH, U.S, United States, Washington, Hasakah

CNN —Turkish airstrikes killed at least 11 people in multiple Kurdish-controlled locations in northeastern Syria, the Kurdish Internal Security Force said Thursday, the latest response from Ankara’s forces following a bomb attack in Turkey’s capital claimed by Kurdish militants. “Eleven people were martyred, including five civilians and six members of the Internal Security Forces,” Asayish said. Eight civilians and two members of the Kurdish security forces were wounded, it added. Later Sunday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said its warplanes had destroyed 20 PKK targets in northern Iraq in response to the attack. According to Ankara, the PKK trains separatist fighters and launches attacks against Turkey from its bases in northern Iraq and Syria, where a PKK-affiliated Kurdish group controls large swaths of territory.

Persons: ” Asayish, Hakan Fidan, Fidan, ” Fidan Organizations: CNN, Turkish, Kurdish Internal Security Force, Kurdish, Internal Security Forces, Turkey’s Defense Ministry, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, United Nations Charter, European Union, Ministry, Turkish Defense Ministry, Turkish Armed Forces, Group, Kurdistan Regional Government Locations: Syria, Kurdish, Turkey, Kurdistan, Ankara, United States, Turkey’s, Iraq, “, Turkish, Iran, Kordestan, Iraqi Kurdistan, Istanbul

☆ What is the Syrian Kurdish YPG?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 5 (Reuters) - U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish forces said on Thursday that Turkish attacks had killed eight people in an escalation prompted by a bomb attack in Ankara claimed by Kurdish militants. A Turkish defence ministry official said a ground operation into Syria was one option for Turkey, which has previously mounted several incursions into northern Syria against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia. BORN IN SYRIAN WARThe YPG, or the People's Protection Units, emerged as a powerful armed group during the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011. It is affiliated to the main Syrian Kurdish faction, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), and has a female counterpart, the YPJ. YPG control was initially concentrated in three predominantly Kurdish regions of northern Syria - known in Kurdish as Rojava.

Persons: Khalil Ashawi, Bashar al, Assad, Abdullah Ocalan, Tom Perry, Jon Boyle Organizations: REUTERS, Kurdish, Syrian Kurdish, Islamic State, Kurdistan Workers Party, Democratic Union Party, U.S, Syrian Democratic Forces, Islamic, AS, European Union, NATO, DAMASCUS, Kurdish Regional Government, Thomson Locations: Tal Abyad, Syria, Syrian Kurdish, Ankara, Turkey, Syrian, United States, France, Kurdish, U.S, TURKEY, Damascus, Qamishli, Iraq

☆ U.S.-led forces reportedly down drone in Syria as Turkey strikes area
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A Turkish defence ministry official said the drone shot down by the coalition did not belong to the Turkish armed forces, without saying whose property it was. A Turkish defence ministry official said on Thursday a ground operation into Syria was one option Turkey could consider. Turkey has mounted several previous incursions into northern Syria against the Syrian Kurdish YPG group. In a statement, the security forces said Turkish attacks killed six members of the internal security forces in northeastern Syria, and two civilians in two separate strikes. Turkey has warned forces of third countries to stay away from facilities controlled by the PKK and YPG.

Persons: Huseyin Hayatsever, Tom Perry, Jonathan Spicer, Alex Richardson, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Kurdish, Syrian Observatory, Human Rights, NATO, Kurdistan Workers ' Party, Syrian Democratic Forces, Security, Islamic State, Thomson Locations: ANKARA, Syria, Syrian Kurdish, Ankara, U.S, Turkish, Turkey, Kurdistan, Kurdish, United States, Iraq, France

☆ After Ankara bombing, Turkey hits back in Iraq and at home
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Daren Butler | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament as he attends the reopening of the Turkish parliament after the summer recess in Ankara, Turkey, October 1, 2023. On Sunday morning, two attackers detonated a bomb near government buildings in Ankara, killing them both and wounding two police officers. It launched an insurgency in southeast Turkey in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict. It said the attackers had hijacked the vehicle and killed its driver in Kayseri, a city 260 km (161 miles) southeast of Ankara. Turkey's armed forces have in recent years conducted several large-scale military operations in northern Iraq and northern Syria against Kurdish militants.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Murat Cetinmuhurdar, Abdul, Latif Rashid, Ali Yerlikaya, Yerlikaya, Yasar Guler, Huseyin Hayatsever, Robert Birsel, Jonathan Spicer, Mark Heinrich, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Kurdistan Workers Party, United Nations, Iraq, European Union, Reuters, PKK, Counterterrorism, Immortals Battalion, Kurdish, Islamic, Defence, Thomson Locations: Turkish, Ankara, Turkey, Handout, Iraq, Iraq ISTANBUL, Istanbul, Iraq's, Gara, Kurdistan, United States, Kayseri, Kurdish, Ataturk, Islamic State, Syria

☆ US Central Command captures Islamic State official in Syria raid - statement
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Sept 30 (Reuters) - U.S. Central Command forces conducted a helicopter raid in northern Syria on Sept. 28 capturing Mamduh Ibrahim al-Haji Shaykh, an Islamic State facilitator, Central Command said on Saturday. Last week, the Central Command forces said it had captured Abu Halil al-Fad'ani, an ISIS Syria Operational and Facilitation official, who was assessed to have relationships throughout the ISIS network in the region, during a raid on Sept. 25. No civilians were injured or killed during the both operations, both Central Command statements said. Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru, Editing by William Maclean and Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Mamduh Ibrahim al, Haji Shaykh, Abu Halil al, Gursimran Kaur, William Maclean, Marguerita Choy Organizations: . Central Command, Central Command, ISIS, Command, Thomson Locations: Syria, State, Bengaluru

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Monday it had captured an operator for the Islamic State extremist group during a helicopter raid in northern Syria. The operator, Abu Halil al-Fad’ani, “was assessed to have relationships throughout the ISIS network in the region,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement. The U.S. has approximately 900 troops in Syria focused on countering the remnants of the Islamic State group, which had held a wide swath of Syria until 2019. News of the capture came as U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces imposed a curfew after continued skirmishes with rival Arab militiamen. Political Cartoons View All 1179 ImagesSyria remains in a bloody 12-year civil war that has killed a half-million people.

Persons: Abu Halil al, “, Troy Garlock, Bashar Assad Organizations: WASHINGTON, State, ISIS, U.S . Central Command, Islamic State, Syrian Democratic Forces Locations: Syria, U.S, Col, Kurdish, Deir el, Zour, Ziban, Damascus, United States

☆ US military captures ISIS official in Syria helicopter raid
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Haley Britzky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The US military captured an ISIS official in a helicopter raid in northern Syria on Saturday, US Central Command announced Monday. Central Command forces successfully conducted a helicopter raid in northern Syria, Sept. 23, 2023. Abu Halil al-Fad’ani, an ISIS Syria Operational and Facilitation official, was captured during the raid,” the CENTCOM release said. Another ISIS operative — Hudayfah al Yemeni, an “ISIS attack facilitator” — and two of his associates were captured in a helicopter raid in Syria in April. The US has roughly 900 troops in Syria as part of the ongoing mission to defeat ISIS.

Persons: Abu Halil al, “, Fad’ani, ”, Troy Garlock, USCENTCOM, Hudayfah, ” — Organizations: CNN, ISIS, US Central Command, “, “ U.S . Central Command, ” Locations: Syria, “ U.S, Col, Iraq

An Explosion Hits an Apartment in Northern Syria. at Least 1 Person Was Killed With Others WoundedPro-government media outlets in Syria are reporting that an explosion has ripped through an apartment on the second floor of a building in a northern town controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters Saturday killing at least one person and wounding others

Locations: Northern Syria, Syria, Turkey

☆ Explosions heard in Syrian capital Damascus - state media
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CAIRO, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Explosions were heard in the vicinity of the Syrian capital Damascus early on Sunday, state media said, adding that the cause was not known. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the explosions hit and damaged warehouses storing rockets belonging to Iran-aligned groups. It said there were no confirmed deaths or injuries, adding the cause of the blasts was not known. Iran has been a major backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the country's 12-year conflict. Reporting By Moaz Abd-Alaziz Writing by Maya Gebeily Editing by William Mallard and Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, Moaz Abd, Maya Gebeily, William Mallard, Frances Kerry Organizations: Syrian Observatory, Human Rights, Thomson Locations: CAIRO, Damascus, Iran, Lebanese, Tehran Iraqi, Syria, Israel

☆ Syria aid: Russia slammed as 'inhumane' after blocking UN cross-border aid operation
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Mohammed Tawfeeq | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The United States, France and the United Kingdom have condemned Russia’s move to block the proposed extension of a United Nations’ cross-border operation that delivers aid to millions of people in Syria from Turkey. The decision means that UN agencies and humanitarian partners are not authorized to continue using the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Syria-Turkey border to provide humanitarian aid to people in the rebel-held area in northwest Syria. Russia had submitted a draft which provided for a six-month extension but it was voted down by France, the UK and the US. More than 4 million people rely on aidRussia and Syria have argued the humanitarian operation violates Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, saying food and other aid should be delivered from inside the country. The Syrian regime praised Russia’s decision, saying it vetoed “a Western UNSC draft resolution violating Syria’s sovereignty under the pretext of delivering cross-border aid,” Syrian state-run SANA news said on Tuesday.

Persons: Russia’s, Matthew Miller, “, ”, ” Miller, Vassily Nebenzia, SANA, Bassam Sabbagh, ” SANA, Bashar al, Assad Organizations: CNN, United Nations, UN, State, United Nations Security, Western UNSC, “ Security Locations: United States, France, United Kingdom, Syria, Turkey, Russia, China, Western, Syrian, Syria’s

U.N. investigators in 2012 concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe shabbiha militias committed crimes against humanity, including murder and torture, and war crimes such as arbitrary arrest and detention, sexual violence and pillaging. PAPER TRAILSome human rights scholars who have studied the role of the shabbiha in the Syrian war say the Assad regime initially used the groups to distance itself from violence on the ground. CIJA is a nonprofit founded by a veteran war crimes investigator and staffed by international criminal lawyers who have worked in Bosnia, Rwanda and Cambodia. While there is no international war crimes court with jurisdiction over Syria's conflict, there are a number of so-called universal jurisdiction cases in countries like the Netherlands, Sweden, France and Germany which have laws allowing them to prosecute war crimes even if they are committed elsewhere. Ghany said the documents were "necessary" pieces of evidence linking the shabbiha to the state in international justice cases.

Persons: shabbiha, Assad, CIJA, Bashar al, Ugur Ungor, Fadel Abdul Ghany, Nerma Jelacic, Ghany, Stephanie Van Den Berg, Maya Gebeily, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: UN, Reuters, Commission, International Justice, Committees, Assad's Baath, Popular Committees, Crisis Management, Dutch NIOD Institute for, Studies, Syrian Network for Human Rights, National Defence Force, Thomson Locations: HAGUE, BEIRUT, U.S, CIJA, Bosnia, Rwanda, Cambodia, Syria, Germany, France, Sweden, Netherlands, Karm, Homs, al, Adawiya

☆ Syria's Kurds to begin trials for IS detainees
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

On Saturday, the Kurdish-led administration said in an online statement that it had decided to submit detainees to its own "open, free and transparent trials" following the international community's lagging response. The issue of foreign fighters is one of the most complex security and rights issues in Syria's 12-year war. A Western diplomat working on Syria told Reuters the administration's decision was a surprise. We take it very seriously that they are holding a lot of people – but this is a separate issue from trying them. The diplomat said such trials would need particularly high levels of security and that the risk of a breakout by IS fighters would become higher.

Persons: IS's, Badran Jia Kurd, Jia Kurd, Letta Tayler, It's, Orhan Qereman, Maya Gebeily, Frances Kerry Organizations: Islamic, Reuters, Human Rights, Thomson Locations: QAMISHLI, Syria, BEIRUT, Kurdish, U.S, Damascus, Canada, France, United Kingdom, Syrian, Qamishli, Beirut

☆ What Turkey’s new cabinet says about where the country is headed
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Gul Tuysuz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The cabinet appointments hint at a return to orthodox economic policy while holding course on foreign policy as the president heads into his third decade in power. Erdogan’s unorthodox economic policies over the past few years have led to a cost-of-living crisis and a plummeting Turkish lira. Shadow diplomatThe new foreign minister is a well-known figure to Turks and international players who have negotiated with Turkey of late. Hakan Fidan, who had served as head of Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT) since 2010, has been in every room and every discussion that has been pivotal to Turkish foreign policy over the last few years. He’s been ever-present but rarely heard – a shadow diplomat in Erdogan’s foreign policy arsenal who has charted rough waters in Syria, Libya and beyond.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mehmet Simsek, –, Nureddin Nebati, ” Simsek, Erdogan, Simsek, Mehmet Celik, Cevdet Yilmaz, Omer Bolat, ” Celik, Hakan Fidan, He’s, Fidan, Ibrahim Kalin, “, ” Fidan, ”, Suleyman Soylu, Istanbul Ali Yerlikaya, Hulusi Akar, Mevlut Cavusoglu, They’ve Organizations: Istanbul CNN —, Reuters, Daily, Trade, CNN, NATO, Turkish Intelligence Agency, MIT, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, EU, Defense, Development Party, AK Party Locations: Istanbul, Turkish Republic, Turkish, “ Turkey, Daily Sabah, Turkey, Syria, Libya, Greece, West, Celik, Damascus, Ankara, Sweden, Yerlikaya

☆ Will Erdogan’s Victory Soften Turkey’s Opposition to Sweden in NATO?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Steven Erlanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

While Turkish troops have protected some Syrian dissident enclaves, Mr. Erdogan has simultaneously engaged in a rapprochement with Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Erdogan wants his help to restrain the Kurds and take back some of the four million Syrian refugees that Turkey has been hosting in the name of Islamic solidarity. Mr. Erdogan may disappoint those who hope for a more emollient, more Western-leaning Turkey, however, and Turkey is not the only ally becoming more authoritarian. Europe will have to find new ways of appealing to the more democratic opposition in these countries and engaging better with society, he said. That drift away from democratic values and the rule of law will mean little progress in long-frozen talks on accession to the European Union.

We are not bound by the West’s sanctions,” Erdogan told CNN’s Becky Anderson. APBy contrast, Erdogan has doubled down on his relationship with Putin – and he thinks the West should follow suit. “This was possible because of our special relationship with President Putin,” he told CNN, referring to the grain deal. In his interview with CNN, Erdogan tackled another key flashpoint in Turkish tensions with the West: Sweden’s accession to NATO. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tells CNN's Becky Anderson, left, he expects voters who value stability and confidence to back him in the May 28 runoff vote.

☆ After years of war, Assad returns to Arab fold
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

* Aug. 2011 - U.S. President Barack Obama says Assad has lost legitimacy to rule and should surrender power. * Nov. 2011 - The Arab League suspends Syria and urges its army to stop killing civilians. * Sept. 2015 - Russia joins the war on Assad's side, deploying war planes that bomb rebel-held areas - a turning point in the conflict. * March 2022 - Assad visits the United Arab Emirates and meets its leaders, his first trip to an Arab state since 2011. Assad says he will only meet Erdogan when Turkey is ready to withdraw forces from Syria.

☆ Erdogan's future is in doubt, but Turkey's ties to Russia and tensions with the US aren't going anywhere
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Matthew Mai | Defense Priorities | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Western observers dislike Erdogan's foreign policy, but a different leader is unlikely to change course. Critics charge that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's foreign policy is a direct outgrowth of his illiberal posture at home rather than shrewd geopolitics. Whether Erdogan or his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, wins, the interests guiding Turkey's foreign policy will require the same balancing act that eschews alignment with any great-power bloc and maximizes Ankara's freedom of action. Locals applaud as a convoy of Turkish trucks carrying tanks near Turkey's border with Syria in October 2019. By prioritizing independence and autonomy, foreign policy under a prospective Kilicdaroglu administration will embody a significant degree of continuity from his predecessor.

☆ For Syrian refugees, Assad’s rehabilitation prompts fear of forced return
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

According to a 2022 UNHCR poll of Syrian refugees living in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, only 1.7% said they would return to Syria in the next 12 months. Even before Arab normalization with the Assad regime began, human rights organizations had repeatedly warned that Syrian refugees risked facing forced returns home amid concerns for their safety. Earlier this year, Denmark – which hosts more than 35,000 Syrian refugees – deemed more areas controlled by the Assad regime to be safe for return. “The further normalization goes, the deeper the pressure will be.”Alshogre worries for himself as well as other Syrian refugees. “If I am sent back to Syria, I will be cut into small pieces by the Syrian regime; I won’t make it out of the airport in Damascus.”

☆ Syrians split over government readmission into Arab League
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Readmitting Syria into the Arab League was a "shock" for Syrians and would "kill the political process", said Bader Jamous, the head of the opposition's negotiating team in stalled United Nations peace talks. The opposition was for years backed by countries now supporting normalisation, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Writing on Twitter, Jamous said Assad's opponents had "not been consulted" about the Arab League decisions. Some Syrian political activists with ties to the government - including former deputy prime minister Qadri Jamil - cautiously encouraged the move in an online statement. And a Facebook page publishing news from the campuses of various Syrian universities posted a stock photograph of Syria's seat at the Arab League with the caption: "After 12 years, the Arab League comes back to life."

☆ Turkey general election 2023 guide: what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

And even if Kilicdaroglu wins the election, some analysts say Erdogan may not hand over power to his successor without a struggle. Here’s what you need to know about the vote that could become a pivotal moment in Turkey’s modern history:How Turkey’s elections workTurkey holds elections every five years. Parliamentary elections take place at the same time as the presidential elections. Four candidates are running for this year’s presidential election. CHP Istanbul mayor candidate Ekrem Imamoglu then went on to win the election re-run, dealing a blow to Erdogan.

☆ Islamic State leader killed in Syria by Turkish intelligence services, Erdogan says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ISTANBUL, April 30 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkish intelligence forces killed Islamic State leader Abu Hussein al-Qurashi in Syria. "This individual was neutralized as part of an operation by the Turkish national intelligence organization in Syria yesterday," Erdogan said in an interview with TRT Turk broadcaster. The area was later encircled by security forces to prevent anyone from approaching the area. IS selected al-Qurashi as its leader in November 2022 after the previous IS leader was killed in an operation in southern Syria. But IS lost its grip on the territory after campaigns by U.S.-backed forces in Syria and Iraq, as well as Syrian forces backed by Iran, Russia and various paramilitaries.

☆ US to advance small F-16 equipment sale to Turkey -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. State Department could send the formal notification for the smaller sale, which includes radars and avionics, as early as Monday, the sources said. If it is cleared by Congress during the formal approval process, the package would be the first major military sale to Turkey that Congress has approved for years. The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees, who have cleared the modernization package during the informal review, declined comment. The package is separate from the proposed $20 billion sale of new Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits that Turkey requested in October 2021. Such conditions are likely to anger Turkey, which has said the United States had "endless" demands relating to the sale of F-16s and that Washington's behavior wasn't fair.

☆ Four Turkish troops wounded in attacks in Syria, Ankara says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISTANBUL, April 16 (Reuters) - Four Turkish soldiers were wounded in artillery and rocket attacks by Kurdish militants on bases in northern Syria, prompting a counter attack, Ankara said on Sunday. Turkey's defence ministry said the attacks were carried out by the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which spearheads the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and also the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Turkey and Western nations deem a terrorist group. Turkey has carried out several cross-border military incursions into northern Syria in recent years and has dozens of bases there. "Ample response is given to the terrorists with strong attacks on targets," it added. Earlier on Sunday Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said "we could never be safe while there is an armed terrorist organisation" in the north of Syria and Iraq.

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