Turkey Accused Of Shelling Kurds Fighting IS

Turkey, meanwhile, fuelled the growing anger of its Kurdish minority by shelling a Kurdish-held village in northern Syria while its warplanes continued to pound Kurdish targets in northern Iraq.

The “heavy tank fire” wounded four members of the allied rebel force and several villagers, the YPG – which Turkey accuses of being allied to its outlawed PKK – said in a statement.

Turkey launched a military campaign against what it claims to be ISIL targets in Syria and PKK positions in northern Iraq last week, after an ISIL attack in the southwestern Turkish town of Suruç claimed the lives of at least 32 people on July 20. If the plan succeeds, American-backed forces, described as “moderate”, would take over a border zone which has become a unsafe pipeline for jihadi fighters in Syria.

Dogu Ergil, a columnist for Zaman newspaper and lecturer at Istanbul Fatih University, said that the Turkish government may have taken an opportunistic hit at the PKK, using Western support of the moves against IS to lessen the criticism: “To attack the Kurds all of a sudden would have been problematic from the point of view of worldwide legitimacy”.

The issue is likely to be high on the agenda for the gathering of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation foreign ministers on Tuesday.

It could also increase tensions with Kurdish fighters, such as the YPG, who control much of northern Syria and are opposed to any Turkish military intervention there, correspondents say.

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A senior Turkish official confirmed that the Turkish army had shot back after it came under fire from across the border late on Sunday, but said it was unclear which group was involved and stressed that the YPG was not a target.

Broadcaster CNN Turk said more than 800 suspected Islamic State and PKK members had been arrested in the past week in a domestic crackdown carried out alongside the air strikes.

The discussions come amid a major tactical shift in Turkey’s approach to the Islamic State. The Anadolu Agency said those detained in Ankara’s Haci Bayram neighborhood include a number of foreign nationals, without naming their home countries.

In a series of cross border strikes since Friday, Turkey has not only targeted the IS group but also Kurdish fighters affiliated with forces battling the extremists in Syria and Iraq.

Davutoglu also said on Saturday that an anti-terror operation in Turkey was not over.

The peace process launched in 2012 with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has been one of the signature achievements of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ending decades of violence that has left thousands dead.

“If we will not send ground forces – and that we will not do – then certain elements that co-operate with us on the ground must be protected”, Davutoglu added.

“We do not want to see Daesh on Turkey’s borders”.

“I had the opportunity to communicate the objectives and framework of the operation, especially in northern Iraq”, Davutoglu said, adding that Barzani told him Turkey’s anti-PKK and Daesh operations were based on legitimate foundations.

“Turkey will show the strongest reaction to the slightest movement that threatens it”, Davutoglu said.

Turkey has given the United States the green light to use its Incirlik air base to attack IS after months of tough negotiations.