Turkey has singled out the Kurdish groups YPG and PYD as responsible for the bombing in Istanbul just over two weeks ago, where six people were killed. A week ago, Turkey launched a new military offensive against the Kurdish areas in northern Syria and Iraq.
– In northeastern Syria, where this campaign is most intense, over 60 people have been killed, among them several civilians. There is a concern that the Kurdish groups that rule in northern Syria are being blamed for this bombing in Istanbul. Even if these groups deny responsibility for the act, there is a concern that Turkey may launch a ground offensive in this area, says SVT’s foreign reporter Stina Blomgren on location in Dahuk on the border with Syria, in Morgonstudion.
IS operation is aborted
The Kurdish groups that rule in northern Syria are important allies of the US-led effort against the terrorist group IS. Thousands of IS members, including Swedish citizens, are imprisoned in northern Syria.
– This weekend it was said that they are canceling this operation against IS because of the air offensive. Assessors believe that if a ground offensive is launched, IS has the opportunity to grow back. If you don’t keep up the pressure on IS, if you don’t continue to hunt down the leader of this terrorist group, if you don’t guard the prison camps – then the organization has the opportunity to grow again and we have also seen that before, for example in Iraq in 2010-2011.
In the past, when Turkey has attacked northern Syria, criticism from the outside world against Ankara has been harsh. This time, the reactions have been a little more wait-and-see, according to Blomgren.
– Both the US and Russia have called for calm, but one sees a caution that is partly due to Turkey’s strengthened position, which has been affected by the war in Ukraine. After all, Turkey is both an important NATO member that supplies Ukraine with weapons, but it also cultivates a good relationship with Russia. This position that Turkey has internationally means that the outside world is a little more cautious in its criticism of Ankara.