After a suicide bomber struck a government facility in Ankara, Turkish aircraft launched airstrikes on alleged Kurdish insurgent targets in northern Iraq. The suicide attack was said to have been carried out by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and 20 PKK targets were reported as having been destroyed in airstrikes by Turkey's defence ministry.
After a three-month summer break, the incident took place just hours before the Turkish Parliament reconvened. The attack, which was dubbed "the last stand of terrorism" by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was intended to establish a 30-kilometre safe zone along Turkey's border with Syria. Since 2016, Turkey has launched several cross-border offensives against the PKK in northern Iraq and many incursions into northern Syria. Since 1984, the PKK has been engaged in armed conflict with Turkey. Turkey held the PKK and the Kurdish militia organisation YPG accountable for a bombing in Istanbul that left six people dead last year.
The US Embassy in Ankara and other foreign missions condemned the recent attack, and Egypt offered its solidarity with Turkey. Meanwhile, Erdogan did not provide any indication as to when Turkey's Parliament may ratify Sweden's membership in NATO.
Turkey has blocked Sweden's membership, accusing it of not doing enough to tackle groups like the PKK. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson condemned the terrorist attack and reaffirmed Sweden's commitment to cooperation with Turkey in combating terrorism.
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