Turkey Take No Prisoners in Struggle Against Kurds

Kurdish YPG fighters.

The Turkish military campaign against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) continues to rack up casualties. Prime Minister Recep Erdogan’s shell fire in the southeastern region of Turkey appears to indiscriminately target both civilians and armed insurgents alike.

The conflict between Turks and Kurds has been rumbling intermittently since 1978, soon after the foundation of the PKK, but has been reignited by the turmoil of the Syrian Civil War and the rise of ISIS.

Recent reports fromRussia Today state that Turkish fire has begun to stray into Syria, affecting civilian lives and buildings, particularly in the border town of Qamishli. On average, the town is hit by more than 10 shells a day, with houses and mosques being destroyed. At least two citizens of the town have lost their lives, including one child. The suffering in Qamishli began in earnest when Turkey commenced an assault on the town of Nusaybin, just across the border, in March.

According toReuters, the most recent wave of offenses ordered by Ankara in eastern Turkey was successful in neutralizing as many as 23 Kurdish militants. Kurdish villages all along the Syrian-Turkish and Iraqi-Turkish borders have been abandoned by their inhabitants, who preferred to flee rather than suffer bombardments from Turkish aircraft.

Turkey’s aggressive campaign against the Kurds has further weakened Ankara’s delicate alliance with Washington, which is a key component in combatting the threat of ISIS in the region.