The Turkish Air Force carried out strikes on the rebel separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq overnight, NTV channel reported on Friday.
F-16 fighter-bombers from the Tactical Air Command of the Second Turkish Air Force stationed at an air base in the mainly Kurdish Diyarbakir Province are involved in the air strikes.
The Turkish Army on Thursday launched a major ground operation in northern Iraq in response to a terrorist attack of Kurdish rebels on October 19 which killed 24 Turkish soldiers and left 18 wounded in the southeast of the country.
"A large-scale land operation backed with air strikes has begun in five separate spots inside Turkey and across the border with 22 battalions," the Turkish military said in a statement posted on its website. There are some 10,000 troops deployed in the area.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in Ankara on Friday to discuss closer cooperation against the separatist Kurdish rebels. Turkey and Iran will work together to confront the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Davutoglu said on Friday.
The UN and EU consider the PKK to be a terrorist organization. It is fighting to establish Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkey. More than 40,000 people have died in the 25-year conflict.
