Turkish Defense Ministry Comments on Airstrikes in Syria: "The Time for Reckoning Has Come"

The Turkish Ministry of Defense published a photo of what appeared to be a plane taking off to carry out an airstrike in northern Syria, captioning the image: "The time for reckoning has come." This coincided with the commencement of airstrikes in northern Syria. The Turkish warplanes conducted more than 20 airstrikes on positions held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The ministry shared a video of the bombing on its Twitter account, accompanying the footage with the phrase, "The scoundrels will pay the price for their treacherous attacks," referencing the explosive device that detonated in Istanbul on the 13th, resulting in six fatalities, with Ankara accusing the "Kurdistan Workers' Party" (PKK) of being behind the explosion. It also accused the Kurdish "People's Protection Units" (YPG), which form the backbone of the SDF, of planning the attack. While state media did not report any casualties resulting from the airstrikes, "France Presse" noted that 12 members of the SDF and Syrian government forces were killed, whereas the "Hawar News Agency," operating in areas controlled by the SDF, reported that government troops were killed due to the bombings.