Turkish army warplanes launched airstrikes on many settlements in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
The head of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) media centre Farhad Shami announced Turkey’s air strikes on Twitter, saying “Kobane, the city that defeated ISIS, is subjected to bombardment by the aircraft of the Turkish occupation.”
updated#Kobane, the city that defeated ISIS, is subjected to bombardment by the aircraft of the Turkish occupation.
— Farhad Shami (@farhad_shami) November 19, 2022
SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdî stated on Twitter that Turkish bombings threatened the whole region and were not in favour of any party.
Turkish bombing of our safe areas threatens the whole region.
This bombing is not in favor of any party.
We are making every effort to avoid a major catastrophe. If war erupts, all will be affected. (1)— Mazloum Abdî مظلوم عبدي (@MazloumAbdi) November 19, 2022
Abdî said: “We are making every effort to avoid a major catastrophe. If war erupts, all will be affected,” and called the people of AANES to stay in their homes and abide by the directives of the Security Forces.
The airstrikes targeted Kobani, Shehba, Gire Spi, Derik, Shengal (Sinjar), and Karaçox. Qandil and Asos regions in Northern Iraq are targets of the bombings as well.
It was also announced that the villages of Sheikh Isa and al-Beilonia in Shehba region, Kale Swarge in Afrin’s Shera district, as well as Dahir al-Arab village in the Zergan district of Hasakah were bombed and there were several deaths and injuries.
Update
The Turkish airstrike targeted military posts belongs to the Damascus Government forces in Qazali (the eastern countryside of Tal Abyad), Tal Rif'at, and Zarkan, resulting in deaths and injuries.
— Farhad Shami (@farhad_shami) November 19, 2022
The Turkish Ministry of National Defense confirmed the air strikes in a tweet and said that “the treacherous attacks are being held to account”.
Hesap zamanı!
Alçaklardan hain saldırıların hesabı soruluyor! 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/pnEbFDkOF7
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) November 19, 2022
The Democratic Kurdistan Community Congress in Europe (KCDK-E) Co-Chairs called on people in Europe to come out to the streets to protest Turkey’s attacks on North East Syria.
Kürdistan topraklarını ve sivil alanları direk hedef alan katliam saldırısına karşı nerede olursak olalım derhal alanlara inerek katliamcı Türk ordusuna dur demek için harekete geçelim.
#TurkeyAttacksRojava@CENTCOM@UN@POTUS pic.twitter.com/WcqxeOwhp2— KCDK-E Dijital Medya (@medya_EU) November 19, 2022
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu had said on Friday that the Turkish Armed Forces will continue its operations in Syria and Iraq.
After Çavuşoğlu’s statement, the U.S. Consulate General in Erbil (Hewler) in KRI issued a security alert warning its citizens not to travel to regions in northern Syria and Iraq on Friday.
Iraq: We are monitoring credible open-source reports of potential Turkish military action in northern Syria and northern Iraq in the coming days. We continue to strongly advise U.S. citizens to avoid these areas. More at https://t.co/QwIpwPB7RB pic.twitter.com/i9i8DeEQsp
— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) November 18, 2022
The intense air strikes came a week after the 13 November bombing in Istanbul, which killed six people and injured dozens.
Turkey stated that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) organised the Istanbul bombing, however, the accused Kurdish groups condemned the attack targeting civilians and declared that they had no connection with the bombing.
After Turkey claimed that the AANES and its military wing SDF were connected with the bomber, the Department of Foreign Relations of the AANES also announced that it had no connection with the bomb attack and invited international forces to be involved in the investigation.
Saleh Muslim, the co-chair of the PYD said that Turkey’s bombing Kobani was an act of revenge for defeating ISIS.
#StopTurkishAtrocities
Turkey attacking Kobani by warplanes in revenge for defeating ISIS.— Saleh Moslem (@SalehMaslem) November 19, 2022
The contradictions in the statements made by the Turkish authorities regarding the attack continue to be discussed by the Turkish public. Analysts and some opposition politicians argue that this attack was a conspiracy to legitimise Turkey’s military operations in Syria and to create pre-election fear in the public.
Turkey’s air strikes against the region continue.
