After the Istanbul bombing last week, Turkey attacked Kurdish militants.

On Sunday, Turkey bombed Kurdish fighters in northern Syria and Iraq shortly after a blast in Istanbul killed six people.

Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said in a statement that in the attacks, military bases of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and the Syrian People’s Protection Units, or YPG, were targeted.

Great success was achieved in destroying terrorist shelters, bunkers, caves, tunnels, and warehouses, as well as terrorist headquarters, Akar said. 

“Direct hits were used to destroy both.”

Turkey’s defense ministry says it carried out airstrikes in Derik, Syria, on Nov. 20. People look at a site hit by Turkish airstrikes that destroyed an electricity station in Taql Baql village.

The PKK and the YPG were accused of carrying out last Sunday’s bombing in Istanbul, which killed six people and wounded dozens more. Both groups have repudiated the charges.

The Turkish presidential spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, tweeted that it was time for reckoning on Istiklal Avenue, where the bombing occurred.

According to Reuters, five people have been arrested in connection with the blast, three Moldovans and a Syrian-Kurdish man and woman.

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An explosion on Istanbul’s famous pedestrian Istiklal Avenue Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, frightened people and caused panic.

Since 1984, the PKK has been rebelling against Turkey. The YPG, which works with the U.S. against ISIS in Syria, is likewise considered a terrorist group by Turkey and the United States.

Turkey has suffered from terror for 40 years, and we are determined to save our country and nation from it, Akar said Sunday.

It was reported that all the suspects are foreign nationals, and one has dual Bulgarian citizenship.

An SDF official has said that Turkish warplanes carried out an “air operation” in Syria and Iraq late Saturday, resulting in 11 deaths, including one journalist. There have been no reports of casualties on the Iraqi side.

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The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), People’s Defense Units (YPG), and Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) are being targeted in Turkey’s new cross-border offensive, dubbed “Operation Claw-Sword” by the defense ministry, according to state-run news agency Anadolu.

Turkish officials said that Kurdish separatist groups were responsible for a deadly explosion in Istanbul last week, an assertion that Kurdish groups have denied. At least six people were killed, and at least 81 others were wounded due to the blast.

SDF media chief Ferhad Shami said via Twitter that Turkish fighter jets bombed Kobani, Dahir al-Arab village, and al-Beilonya.

Strikes in Kobani and Derik damaged hospitals and grain silos in Dahir al-Arab. A witness told CNN that Warplanes bombed near Tal Rifaat city, controlled by the YPG in the northern Aleppo countryside.

According to Anadolu, Turkey’s defense minister congratulated his country’s air force for the “successful” air operation.

“Terrorist shelters, bunkers, caves, tunnels, and warehouses were all successfully obliterated. We kept a close eye on them. The headquarters of the terrorist network, so-named, were likewise destroyed.”

Turkey and the United States both regard the PKK as a terrorist organization. While the United States has relied on the YPG’s military wing to battle ISIL in Syria, Turkey believes it is an extension of the PKK.

Turkish authorities also said that a Syrian woman has been arrested for last Sunday’s deadly explosion in Istanbul. Kurdish fighters are said to have trained her.

The SDF, the YPG, and the People’s Defense Forces (HPG), all of which are components of the YPG, have all denied having any connection to the assault.

Five people have been charged with supporting terrorist acts in connection with the blast.

According to Bulgarian Supervising Prosecutor Anglel Kanev, charges have been brought against the five individuals for two crimes. 

“One [is being in] an organized crime group for trafficking and human trafficking. The other is, according to article 108A of the criminal code, generally speaking, helping to a certain extent at a certain moment, terrorist activities.”

All the suspects are foreign nationals, and one has dual Bulgarian citizenship, Kanev said.