Erdogan Orders Strikes After PKK Attack Kills Turkish Troops

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, under pressure to ensure stability two weeks after replacing the military’s high command, warned that Turkey’s “patience” was exhausted and ordered airstrikes against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party after the group killed nine soldiers and militiamen.

The attack by the PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union, was the deadliest since July 14, when 13 soldiers were killed in an ambush that coincided with a Kurdish declaration of autonomy. Within hours of yesterday’s attack, Turkish warplanes crossed the border into Iraq and struck 60 PKK targets, the military said on its website. It also warned of “similar actions” until the “separatist terrorist organization is rendered ineffective.”