Turkish airstrikes in Syria and Iraq are aimed at Kurdish militants.

The explosion on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue has been blamed by Turkey on Kurdish insurgents.
The YPG and the outlawed PKK have both had their bases in Syria hit by airstrikes.
There have been three Turkish invasions of northern Syria.
ISTANBUL: The Turkish defense ministry announced early on Sunday that it had conducted air strikes against sites in northern Syria and northern Iraq that were being used by illegal Kurdish militants to launch attacks against Turkey.

Turkey claims the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia is an extension of the banned PKK, thus the Turkish government carried out airstrikes against their bases, the Turkish defense ministry said.

Following the conclusion of its cross-border operation against PKK militants in Iraq, Turkey announced on Tuesday that it will pursue targets in northern Syria in retaliation for the deadly bombing that occurred in Istanbul over the weekend.

Kurdish terrorists have been held responsible by the government for the November 13 bombing on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue, which killed six people and injured more than eighty. PKK and SDF have both denied any participation in the bombing on the major pedestrian avenue.

A report from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reported late Saturday that Turkish aircraft had shelled two communities in northern Syria that housed internally displaced people.

The head commander of the US-allied SDF, Mazloum Abdi, tweeted, “Turkish bombing of our safe regions threatens the whole region.”

To date, Turkey has launched three separate incursions into northern Syria in an effort to crush the YPG militia. Turkey’s president, Tayyip Erdogan, has already hinted that his country may launch another assault against the YPG.