Turkey could expand military operations against Kurdish militants in northern Syria to include a land incursion, president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, threatening to escalate tensions in a region where US and Russian troops are present.
“This is not limited to just an air campaign,” Erdoğan told reporters, according to a readout from his office on Monday, after air strikes targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) in Iraq and the People’s Protection Units (YPG), its Syrian affiliate. “We will consult with our defence ministry and general staff and decide together the extent to which our land forces need to contribute, then take our steps accordingly.”
Erdoğan has for months threatened a fresh ground offensive against the YPG, which he says poses a national security risk for Turkey. Government officials said the air strikes against almost 90 PKK and YPG targets were in retaliation for a bomb attack in central Istanbul that killed six people and wounded 81 others last week.