SDF denies links to the attack on an aerospace company in Ankara

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Mazloum Abdi, general commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), denied any link to Wednesday’s attack on a Turkish aerospace facility in Ankara.

“Our troops have nothing to do with these attacks and the attackers did not pass through Syrian territory,” Abdi said in a video message on Saturday.

The establishment of Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (TAI) in Ankara’s northern Kahramankazan district was attacked by two assailants on Wednesday. Five people were killed and 22 injured.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed responsibility and said the attack “was carried out by an independent team from the Immortal Battalion.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed the attackers came from Syria. “We have learned that this terrorist attack has developed as an infiltration movement from Syria,” he told journalists on Friday as he returned from the BRICS summit in Russia.

Abdi said his troops are not crossing the border, that the SDF has decided “not to conduct operations on Turkish territory and Northern Kurdistan (southeast Turkey). Our military operations are limited to Syrian areas only.”

On Wednesday evening, Turkey began a wave of attacks on suspected PKK targets in the Kurdistan region and Syria. Turkey considers the SDF an affiliate of the PKK.

The strikes in Syria lasted at least two days.

“Last night, Turkish fighter jets targeted the area around the Qamishli power station and twice attacked a building materials factory via drone,” a statement from local Kurdish security forces (Asayish) said on Saturday.

Abdi said the attacks killed 17 people in northeastern Syria (Rojava) and that “only two of them were soldiers.”

He said the SDF prefers dialogue to resolve issues with Turkey, but could be forced to escalate in response.

“These attacks and their continuation harm and endanger our dialogue efforts. If the attacks continue in this intrusive manner, we will be obliged to strengthen our responses more than before,” he said.

The wave of violence comes amid hopes for a renewed push for peace between the Turkish state and the PKK, which began earlier this month when Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli suggested that jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan would address the Turkish parliament and declare the dissolution. of his armed group.

As a next step, the government allowed Ocalan to meet his family, ending more than four years of isolation. After the meeting, Omer Ocalan, Ocalan’s cousin and parliamentarian of the Pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy (DEM) party, shared a message from his uncle that he can turn the violence into a political process.

On Friday, Erdogan said Turkey would continue to fight terrorism.