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File photo – People inspect a site damaged by Turkish airstrikes that hit an electricity station in the village of Taql Baql, in Hasakeh province, Syria, Sunday, 20 November 2022. AP
New Delhi: Aimed at scaling up the attacks on Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, Turkey is now talking to Russia to use airspace above northern Syria for potential military operations.
Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar Saturday told reporters that Ankara was in talks with Moscow — which has backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the beginning of the civil war in the country — about the operation, according to a Reuters report.
“We are in talks and discussing with Russia about all issues including opening the airspace,” he said.
Turkey and Russia have been on opposing sides in the Syrian crisis. While Russia has backed and helped President Assad in crushing the rebels, Turkey has supported the rebels.
Why is Turkey attacking Kurdish militia?
On 13 November, an explosion rocked a busy street in central Istanbul killing six and leaving around 80 others wounded.
Turkey has blamed Syrian Kurdish YPG Militia for the attack.
The Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), and the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces led by the YPG have denied involvement in the blast.
However, Turkey used the blast as a pretext to launch attacks on Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria last month
Turkey has in the past carried on incursions and full-fledged military operations into Kurdish-held northern Syria. It now even controls territory there displacing the Kurdish population.
Although the Kurdish authority was not recognised by the Syrian government, they were however supported by the government when Turkey invaded Syrian territory. Russia as an ally of the Assad government has thus asked Turkey to exercise restraint in northern Syria.
History of Turkey’s conflict with Kurds
Turkey, for decades, has faced a Kurdish insurgency in its Kurd-populated north-eastern region. The Kurds have fought the Turkish government for either greater autonomy or independence from Turkey.
The areas in south-eastern Turkey, northern Syria, northwest Iraq, and the adjoining region in Iran are home to the ethnic Kurdish population. They have tried to seek a united Kurdistan by leading different movements in these countries that control the Kurdistan region.
In Syria, ISIS was fought out of power in the north by the Kurds backed by the US. After ISIS’s ouster, they started self-governance in their region in northern Syria, which borders the insurgent Kurdish-populated region in Turkey.
Turkey has blamed the Syrian Kurds for supporting the Kurdish separatists in Turkey.
Turkey has also claimed that the Syrian refugees in Turkey, who fled the civil war, will be rehabilitated in the areas under Turkish control.
With inputs from Agency
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