Turkey says strikes on Syrian Kurd fighters ‘legitimate defence’

A splinter Kurdish militant group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), has since claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Davutoglu also said Turkey would tighten security across the country, especially the capital, after a auto laden with explosives was detonated near military buses in Ankara on Wednesday, killing 28 people. Most recently, TAK had claimed a mortar attack in December at Istanbul’s second airport that killed a cleaner.

After the bombing, the PKK militants, who accuse the government in Ankara of supporting Daesh, engaged in a series of reprisal attacks against Turkish police and security forces, prompting the Turkish military operations.

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.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Tuesday that investigators have found evidence of the Syrian Kurdish militia’s involvement in the attack, although he did not provide details.

Erdogan and his government have been adamantly opposed to the Syrian Kurds closing off that remaining stretch of border since it would put the YPG along the entirety of the Syrian frontier with Turkey.

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.

Davutoglu said that a total of 255 million Turkish lira in financial aid would be given to Turkish tourist agencies while there would also be measures to help firms restructure debt.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the attack rose by one to 29 after another victim died in hospital, media reports said.

In 2015, tourism in Turkey declined due to Russian economic difficulties and political tension resulted from Turkey’s downing of the Russian jet.

A State Department spokesman later told reporters Washington would continue to support organizations in Syria that it could count on in the fight against Daesh – an apparent reference to the YPG. Turkey considers both to be terror groups linked to the PKK.