In the first iconic moment of 2024, a man was caught washing 70 kilos of unlabeled sausages at Bursa gas station, and we have to ask … you … to label that sausage.
Is it cho-rinso? Maybe kiel-batha? Wash-tırma? Put the “su” in sucuk and reply to this email with your wurst pun. Nothing is impossible when great minds meat.
In this week’s issue:
Military ops could expand in Iraq and Syria
Expected AKP Ankara candidate has nationalist appeal
Israeli footballer detained in Turkey
Turkey-Russia trade faces new obstacles
Monetary tightening cycle nears end
Turkey’s first astronaut buckles up
Also, check our latest reports from Hatay on the agriculture sector’s slow recovery by Ingrid Woudwijk and Burcu Özkaya Günaydın and the many people still living in tent camps by Kazım Kızıl and Gonca Tokyol, plus our analysis of Erdoğan’s new pension hikes by Diego Cupolo.
A deadly attack targeted Turkish troops in northern Iraq Friday, killing nine soldiers and wounding four. This came three weeks after another clash between PKK militants in northern Iraq left 12 Turkish soldiers dead. In retaliation, Turkey has since stepped up airstrikes.
Pres. Erdoğan convened a security meeting Saturday with three cabinet ministers and the head of Turkey’s intelligence agency to discuss counterterrorism strategies as Ankara reiterated it would not allow the establishment of a “terror state” along its borders.
Feyzullah Tuna Aygün, an Iraq expert at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (ORSAM), an Ankara-based think tank, said Turkey’s retaliatory strikes in both Iraq and Syria indicate Ankara will continue to pursue a “holistic perspective” in its fight against terrorism:
“The focus is on Türkiye’s southern borders without distinguishing between Iraq or Syria or different terrorist organizations such as PKK or ISIS,” Aygün told Turkey recap.
Along those lines, hours after the latest attack, Turkish jets hit targets allegedly linked with PKK sites in northern Iraq’s Metina, Hakurk, Gara and Qandil and neighboring areas in Syria as a part of the ongoing Operation Claw-Lock operation, which was launched in April 2022 despite Iraqi government’s calls for withdrawal.
A Defense Ministry statement Tuesday, claimed “23 targets were destroyed, including caves, shelters, tunnels, ammunition warehouses, supply materials and facilities used by the terrorist organization.”
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) authorities reported a wave of attacks on infrastructure facilities that wounded at least 10 people and cut electrical and water supplies in areas held by the Kurdish-led group in Syria.
Meanwhile, Interior Min. Yerlikaya announced 113 people with alleged PKK ties have been detained in 32 Turkish provinces in recent days and investigations were launched on social media posts accused of “disseminating false information.”
Speaking after his party’s cabinet meeting Tuesday, Erdoğan hinted airstrikes would continue, saying: “We will not be at ease as long as there are bloody-handed murderers in Iraq and Syria.”
Although not mentioned directly, his statements were widely interpreted to mean a new ground offensive was possible in northern Syria. Ankara has carried out similar operations in the recent past and Erdoğan has occasionally made warnings of new land incursions to create a safe zone along Turkey’s border.
“With Operation Euphrates Shield in 2017, Operation Spring Shield in 2020 and other operations in between, Türkiye wants to create a safe zone free from terrorist organizations in northern Syria” Aygün said.
“Similar military operations can be expected to be carried out to achieve its political objective,” he added.
But in the likelihood of such a scenario, Ankara could face objections from Moscow and Washington, who brokered a ceasefire for Turkey’s 2019 invasion. Turkey has long condemned US support for the SDF, so Erdoğan’s words were also a critique for that alliance.
Washington officials have yet to publicly respond as regional conflict risks mount with repercussions from the Israel-Gaza war elsewhere adding further pressure on Turkey’s border security.
– Verda Uyar
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Turkey recap to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.