Turkish Warplanes Pound Kurdish Militants in Southeast

But a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation official said members also used the closed-door meeting to call on Turkey not to use excessive force in reaction to attacks, while urging it to continue with peace efforts.

The pro-Kurdish opposition has furiously accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of ordering the air strikes as revenge for its strong performance in June 7 general elections which cost the ruling party its overall majority.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Fox said: “I don’t think it’s healthy for the coalition against Isis that the United States is carrying out some 90 per cent or more of all the air strikes”. It is responding to recent Islamic State attacks inside Turkey, including one last week that killed dozens; and it is seeking to create a space where refugees now in Turkey could be sent.

Massud Barzani, the president of Kurdish-ruled northern Iraq, has expressed disquiet to Ankara over the air raids. “Our only crime was winning 13 percent of vote”, HDP chairman Selahattin Demirtas told his group in Parliament.

The left-wing HDP gained traction after Demirtas campaigned on a progressive platform that took the party beyond its origins in Kurdish nationalism, appealing to a broader range of minorities and opponents of the Islamist-rooted AKP.

Dujarric said a statement was issued on Monday in which the UN chief extended his “deepest condolences” to the government and people of Turkey.

The Turkish government cracked down on PKK elements on Turkish territory, rounding up hundreds of people it suspected of having links with the Kurdish militant group as well as those associated with Isil.

It came as parliament held an emergency session to discuss the controversial operation that is inflaming tensions in Turkey.

Aso Kurdman said the US had sold out the Kurds in Bakur, or Turkey Kurdistan and in Rojava, or Syrian Kurdistan, where the PKK-affiliate YPG has been fighting against the Islamic State (ISIS) group. “He would run there if he found the opportunity”.

The official denied that the U.S. air cover would amount to a no-fly zone, insisting instead that it will be designed to form a safe haven to kick out the Islamic State and allow people from the Syrian and Turkish border communities to return to the area.

Most Turkish front pages report comments by PM Ahmet Davutoglu vowing to keep IS away from the country’s border with Syria.

In another positive move, Turkey has entered talks with the U.S. on establishing an ISIS-free and Syrian government-free zone on Syrian soil in a border area near the embattled rebel city of Aleppo.

Last week Turkish warplanes started striking militant targets in Syria and agreed to allow the US to launch its own strikes from Turkey’s strategically
located Incirlik Air Base.

However, Washington seems conservative about attacking Syrian Kurds, as the Kurdish YPG forces have so far played an effective role in the war on IS in northern Syria.

“So, the safe zone is intended to stop the Kurds, not IS”.

Turkish jets hit Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq in a new raid against a separatist group, authorities have said.

At least twelve members of the security forces have been killed over the past week by suspected Kurdish militants.

The government says those arrested are from the PKK, leftist groups and the Islamic State, but does not provide a breakdown by organization. The base can be opened at any time.

“The Obama team has been failing in Iraq, and will continue to fail as long as it humors Turkey’s claims to be the USA’s reliable ally”, said Ted Carr, adding that US has turned a blind eye to Turkish support for ISIS.

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