Istanbul – Turkey vowed to retaliate against Syrian Kurds, to which they blamed for the suicide bombing that killed 28 people last Wednesday in Ankara, the Turkish capital. The retaliations include Turkey sending troops to Syria to stop the advance of the Kurds to their border.
The suicide bombing coincided with the growing tensions between Turkey and the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Both parties have been in previous peace talks but the failed process have plunged the southeast of the country into a war between Kurds and the Turkish military, just as the Syrian Kurds carried out their own proto-state in territories adjacent to Turkey’s border, according to The Washington Post.
Turkish government have found connections between the YPG and the bombing that attacked a bus carrying Turkish military personnel. Turkey have urged to their allies to take action, but fissures have been shown in their relations living the country isolated in the conflict that also involves Russia.
The United States, a Turkey’s ally, but supporter of the YPG in the fight against the Islamic State, have rejected Turkish efforts to force it to renounce its relations with the so-called terrorist organization by Ankara.
State Department spokesman, John Kirby, have announced that the U.S have not yet determined any responsibility for the bombing. He added that as far as they know, the responsible is still an open question.
Kirby said the actions were clearly an act of terrorism, as he urged both sides, the YPG, and Turkey, to show restraint and to focus on the fight against the Islamic State.
Turkey’s Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, previously stated that the YPG have carried out the bombing in collaboration with Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an organization defined as a terrorist one by both, Turkey and the U.S. The PKK did actually take credit for the bombing but have not confirmed any YPG implication.
“A direct link between the attack and the YPG has been established,” Davutoglu told reporters in Ankara. “The attack was carried out by the PKK together with a person who sneaked into Turkey from Syria,” he added.
Davutoglu also accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of complicity with the YPG, as he said that in the past his government supplied arms to the organization.
The YPG denied the accusations as they said it was a tactic from Turkish government to justify further attacks against the organization’s enclave known as Rojava, that the Kurds are carving out in northern Syria.
The Turkish allegations were qualified as a part of an attempt by the Turkish prime minister to establish new foundations for their attacks on Rojava during the Syrian crisis, said the YPG in a statement.
A risk of war
Russia, an old Turkey’s rival, is expanding its presence around Turkish borders, in Syria to the south, in Crimea and Ukraine to the north and in Armenia to the East.
In addition, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on Saturday the deployment of a new batch of fighter jets and combat helicopters to an air base outside the Armenian capital, Yerevan, 25 miles from the Turkish border.
The old enemies have retaliations in sight. Russia’s sanctions affect Turkey’s economy, which hits fears of instability. The sanction is due to the downing of a Russian plane in November on Turkey territory.
International community worries that the tensions between the nations could escalate further. French President, François Hollande, warned on Friday that there is a risk of war between Turkey and Russia.
Source: The Washington Post