Erdogan Threatens to Crush Kurdish Commanders in Syria

Shortly after launching a new offensive against the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) banned in Turkey in northern Iraq, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also threatened to crush the Kurdish commanders of “the terrorist organization in Syria.

 

There is no doubt about that.”, he said in the Turkish parliament on Wednesday.

On Monday, the defence ministry in Ankara announced that Turkey had begun air and ground operations in Iraq. The Turkish military has controlled border areas in northern Syria and has already conducted numerous operations against the PKK in Iraq and the Kurdish militia YPG in Syria.

Ankara sees the latter group as an extension of the PKK. The YPG is an ally of the United States in the war in Syria.

The PKK, which is also classified as a terrorist organization in Europe and the US, is headquartered in the Kandil Mountains of northern Iraq. “Hopefully, there won’t be a place called Kandil soon,” Erdogan said.