Turkey expands offensive against ISIL and PKK as it demands "safe zones" be established in Syrian areas cleared of ISIL.
Turkey has launched more
air raids against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in
Syria and against Kurdish fighters in Iraq.
Saturday's raids are the latest in a campaign that began early on Friday after a suicide bombing at a rally in southern Turkish city of Suruc earlier in the week killed 32 young Kurdish activists.
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) responded by killing two Turkish police officers, claiming they collaborated with ISIL in the bombing.
On Saturday, Turkey expanded its campaign to include bases in northern Iraq belonging to the PKK, whose Syrian allies are fighting against ISIL.
Turkish officials appeared to be prepared for a long-term fight.
"Whenever we see a decrease in or the vanishing of the threat, then of course we will make a reassessment," Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish prime minister, said at a news conference.
"A third wave of operations are a part of this."
'Dangerous'
The PKK said the strikes on its bases meant the Turkish government had ended a fragile 2013 ceasefire between the two sides.
The president of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Masoud Barzani, spoke to Davutoglu over the telephone on Saturday and "expressed his displeasure with the dangerous level the situation has reached", according to a KRG statement.
"He requested that the issue not be escalated to that level because
peace is the only way to solve problems and years of negotiations are
better than one hour of war," the statement said.
"Mr Barzani is ready to do anything within his means to assuage this tension and go back to a situation of peace."
In a related development, Turkish police have been rounding up hundreds of suspected ISIL and Kurdish fighters in cities and towns across the country. As of Saturday, nearly 600 people had been detained.
Turkish police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse about 1,000 demonstrators who had gathered in the capital Ankara to protest against the military strikes.
The peace talks between the PKK and Turkey had started in 2012 but have stalled of late.
"The truce has no meaning any more after these intense air strikes by the occupant Turkish army," the PKK said on its website.
Bahtiyar Dogan, a PKK spokesperson in Iraq, told AFP news agency that one fighter was killed and three wounded in the air strikes, which he said started late on Friday and lasted through much of Saturday.
"We are still committed to the directives of our leader [Abdullah] Ocalan ... but it seems Erdogan wants to drag us back into war," Dogan said.
"When things reach this level and when all of our areas are bombed, I think by then the ceasefire has no meaning any more," he said, echoing the statement on the PKK website.
Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey, said it appeared the Turkish government was concerned about both ISIL threatening Syrian opposition groups in their stronghold in Aleppo province that could lead to them taking control of an important border crossing.
Turkey was also worried about the growing strength of Syria's Kurds, a group known as the YPG, which now controls more than half of Syria's 800km border with Turkey.
Turkey earlier this week approved the full use of its airbases by the US-led coalition against ISIL and has been pushing for areas in northern Syria cleared of ISIL fighters to become safe zones, under a deal it has struck with the US.
"(Turkish) Officials even blamed the US airstrikes for helping the Kurds gain ground from ISIL," our correspondent said.
"It seems Turkey's long-time demand for a humanitarian safe zone inside Syria will emerge."
Al Jazeera's Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Kilis in southern-central Turkey, said Kurdish people in the area were "very worried about what lies ahead in days to come".
Saturday's raids are the latest in a campaign that began early on Friday after a suicide bombing at a rally in southern Turkish city of Suruc earlier in the week killed 32 young Kurdish activists.
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) responded by killing two Turkish police officers, claiming they collaborated with ISIL in the bombing.
On Saturday, Turkey expanded its campaign to include bases in northern Iraq belonging to the PKK, whose Syrian allies are fighting against ISIL.
Turkish officials appeared to be prepared for a long-term fight.
"Whenever we see a decrease in or the vanishing of the threat, then of course we will make a reassessment," Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish prime minister, said at a news conference.
"A third wave of operations are a part of this."
'Dangerous'
The PKK said the strikes on its bases meant the Turkish government had ended a fragile 2013 ceasefire between the two sides.
The president of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Masoud Barzani, spoke to Davutoglu over the telephone on Saturday and "expressed his displeasure with the dangerous level the situation has reached", according to a KRG statement.
| Turkey’s two-pronged offensive |
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For Turkey, ISIL declared war when it bombed a cu |
"Mr Barzani is ready to do anything within his means to assuage this tension and go back to a situation of peace."
In a related development, Turkish police have been rounding up hundreds of suspected ISIL and Kurdish fighters in cities and towns across the country. As of Saturday, nearly 600 people had been detained.
Turkish police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse about 1,000 demonstrators who had gathered in the capital Ankara to protest against the military strikes.
The peace talks between the PKK and Turkey had started in 2012 but have stalled of late.
"The truce has no meaning any more after these intense air strikes by the occupant Turkish army," the PKK said on its website.
Bahtiyar Dogan, a PKK spokesperson in Iraq, told AFP news agency that one fighter was killed and three wounded in the air strikes, which he said started late on Friday and lasted through much of Saturday.
"We are still committed to the directives of our leader [Abdullah] Ocalan ... but it seems Erdogan wants to drag us back into war," Dogan said.
"When things reach this level and when all of our areas are bombed, I think by then the ceasefire has no meaning any more," he said, echoing the statement on the PKK website.
Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey, said it appeared the Turkish government was concerned about both ISIL threatening Syrian opposition groups in their stronghold in Aleppo province that could lead to them taking control of an important border crossing.
Turkey was also worried about the growing strength of Syria's Kurds, a group known as the YPG, which now controls more than half of Syria's 800km border with Turkey.
Turkey earlier this week approved the full use of its airbases by the US-led coalition against ISIL and has been pushing for areas in northern Syria cleared of ISIL fighters to become safe zones, under a deal it has struck with the US.
"(Turkish) Officials even blamed the US airstrikes for helping the Kurds gain ground from ISIL," our correspondent said.
"It seems Turkey's long-time demand for a humanitarian safe zone inside Syria will emerge."
Al Jazeera's Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Kilis in southern-central Turkey, said Kurdish people in the area were "very worried about what lies ahead in days to come".
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