Turkey bombed Kurds in northern Syria and Iraq hours after a deadly attack on the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) near Ankara by the PKK/KCK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party)–a militant group fighting for the rights of Kurds. The Turkish Aerospace assault left five dead and twenty-two injured with Turkey calling the Kurdish assault as “terrorist attack”.
The Kurd militants—a man and a woman—stormed the TUSAS facility on killing four employees and a taxi driver before being neutralized by security forces. Turkey’s vice president Cevdet Yılma confirmed the victims included the Turk driver who unwittingly transported the Kurd assailants to the site.
Hours after the attack, Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense announced that its air force conducted a series of operations against alleged Kurd targets associated with the PKK/KCK in northern Iraq and Syria. “In accordance with our legitimate defense rights under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, air operations were carried out, neutralizing numerous terrorists (Kurds) across 32 targets,” the ministry stated.
Turkey bombs civilians
However, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) provided a sharply contrasting narrative, accusing Turkey of targeting civilians and essential infrastructure. In a statement, the SDF said Turkish forces launched artillery shelling and airstrikes on civilian infrastructure across northern and eastern Syria. “Bakeries, power stations, oil facilities, and checkpoints were hit among the 42 civic sites targeted,” the SDF claimed, adding that 12 civilians, including two children, were killed, and 25 others injured in the assault.
“This barbaric aggression underscores Turkey’s hostility toward our people,” the SDF said, accusing Ankara of sowing chaos in the region to deflect from its domestic crises. The group vowed to defend their territory against what they described as Turkey’s repeated attempts to destabilize the region.
Turkey, which has a long history of military operations against Kurdish forces, continues to justify these campaigns under the pretext of combating terrorism. Yet the escalation has drawn criticism from human rights groups and regional observers, who warn that Turkey’s operations risk further destabilizing an already volatile region. The strikes come at a time when the Kurdish-majority areas governed by the SDF are essential for maintaining peace in north eastern Syria, raising fears that Turkey’s military actions may lead to widespread humanitarian fallout.