MIDEAST-CRISIS/TURKEY-AIR STRIKES AFTERMATH Turkey strikes IS, Kurdish militants in drive for "safe zone"

Record ID: 146320

  • Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/TURKEY-AIR STRIKES AFTERMATH Turkey strikes IS, Kurdish militants in drive for "safe zone"
  • Date: 25th July 2015
  • Summary: AMADIYA, QANDIL MOUNTAIN REGION, IRAQ (JULY 25, 2015) (VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS) (MUTE) VARIOUS OF WHITE SMOKE RISING QANDIL MOUNTAINS ARMED MEN BELONGING TO KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY (PKK) WALKING DOWN PATH GRAVESTONES DAMAGED BY SHRAPNEL VARIOUS OF HOUSES BY ROAD BROKEN TREE BRANCHES BROKEN WINDOWS OF HOUSE SHATTERED GLASS INSIDE HOUSE HOUSES IN MOUNTAINS MAN HOLDING REMA
  • Embargoed: 9th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4A0MQ35ZCNS3WOR0BN9NV6GMP
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Video footage obtained by Reuters on Saturday (July 25) showed the aftermath of Turkish air strikes on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) camps in Iraq.
    The footage showed smoke rising from the forests of the Qandil mountain region where the PKK camps are located. It also showed footage of damaged homes and the remains of exploded shells.
    Turkish fighter jets and ground forces struck Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq in a campaign Ankara said would help create a "safe zone" across swathes of northern Syria.
    The strikes followed Turkey's first-ever air attacks on Islamic State in Syria a day earlier and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference the heightened security operations will go on.
    Turkey has dramatically cranked up its role in the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, which has seized much of Syria's north and east, since a suspected IS suicide bomber killed 32 people this week in a town close to the Syrian border.
    It has also pledged to target Kurdish militants, raising concern about the future of the shaky Kurdish peace process. Critics, including opposition politicians, accuse President Tayyip Erdogan of trying to use the campaign against Islamic State as an excuse to crack down on Kurds.
    Turkey was long a reluctant member of the coalition against Islamic State, a stance that annoyed NATO ally Washington, and this weekend's move into the front line appears to be a response to the suicide bombing in the border town of Suruc.
    Many of those killed in the Suruc attack were Kurds and it sparked violence in the largely Kurdish southeast by militants who say Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party have covertly supported Islamic State against Syrian Kurds.
    Ankara denies the accusation.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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