Turkish media have said that the country's air force bombed Kurdish fighters angry at Ankara's refusal to intervene in their battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) over the border in Syria yesterday, Reuters reported.
Turkish media reports its military's first major airstrikes on PKK militants in Iraq since March 2013 http://t.co/nv8OhOIE9q
Hürriyet Daily News reported that Turkish fighter jets had bombarded positions held by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), following attacks by militants on military positions in southeast Turkey.
"The airstrike is the first broad op against the PKK since the gov initiated the peace process with Turkey’s Kurds." http://t.co/p2Q536FClf
Hürriyet said that it had learned that the Turkish General Staff had ordered bombings of PKK positions in Dağlıca, Hakkari province yesterday.
The targets were reported to have been involved in "assassination, armed incidents and attacks on security bases" following nationwide protests last week.
Reuters reported that the airstrikes were also being covered by media sympathetic to the PPK.
They are the first such airstrikes since the peace process began in Turkey two years ago.
Last week, at least 35 people were killed in riots as members of Turkey's large Kurdish minority took to the streets in protest against the Turkish government's lack of action in preventing ISIS taking the town of Kobani, across the border in Syria.
Turkey has so far refused to join a U.S.-led coalition against ISIS unless it also seeks to tackle the threat posed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.