Operation Martyr Yalçın

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This article is about the 24–25 July 2015 operations made by Turkish forces. The subsequent operations are covered in
Turkey–ISIL conflict
.
Operation Martyr Yalçın
Part of the
Kurdish–Turkish conflict
Date24–25 July 2015
Location
Syria–Turkey border, northern Iraq
Status First wave against PKK and ISIL targets began on 24 July 2015[2][3]
Belligerents

Turkey Turkey

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Kurdistan Workers' Party

  • KCK

Revolutionary People's Liberation Party–Front
Commanders and leaders
Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Turkey Ahmet Davutoğlu
Turkey Hulusi Akar
Abu Ala al-Afri
Cemil Bayık
Hüseyin Fevzi Tekin
Strength
Unknown 4,000[4]
Casualties and losses
Two police officers injured in Hakkari.
Diyarbakir[6][7]
 11-35 killed [8][9][10] 160 killed (Turkish claim)[11]

Operation Martyr Yalçın (

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) positions in Syria, and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) positions in northern Iraq, on 24 and 25 July 2015.[12]

The operation began in the early hours of 24 July, a day after ISIL militants reportedly attacked a Turkish military border outpost in the Turkish town of

killing one soldier, Yalçın Nane
, and injuring two others. The operation is named after the dead soldier.

The operation involved three waves of

İncirlik Air Base on 24 July and 25 July. It was reported that 35 ISIL militants had been killed in the first wave after footage from the fighter jets and unmanned aircraft were analysed, while the airstrikes in Northern Iraq were confirmed to have killed a high-ranking PKK militant and were alleged to have killed the PKK commander Murat Karayılan.[13]
After 25 July, Turkey stopped its airstrikes on ISIL but continued with those against the PKK.

The airstrikes against the PKK resulted in an increase in violence in

global military intervention against ISIL.[14]

Background

Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)

Further information:
Ceylanpınar incidents

The conflict between the Turkish government and

solution process' between the government and the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) militant organisation. As of early July 2015, the ceasefire and negotiations have continued despite numerous minor infringements and violations on both sides.

Following the

militants of disputed affiliation killed two policemen in the town of Ceylanpınar, Şanlıurfa Province, in an act of retaliation against suspected collaboration between Turkey and ISIL.[15] PKK militants also attacked a military base in Adıyaman, killing another soldier. Much of the airstrikes have been successful in hitting PKK populated areas, however many civilians have been killed as a result of the strikes.[16] On 10 August 2015, a Turkish Air Force airstrike occurred near a U.S. Special Forces training site made for the purpose of training Kurdish Peshmerga fighters combating ISIL.[16]

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)

Further information:
Military intervention against ISIL

Before the operation, the Turkish government had pursued an internationally criticised policy of inaction against ISIL, opting out of the

Northern Kurdistan, in protest against the government's refusal to intervene in ISIL's siege of Kobanî. Turkey's policy of inaction was also thought to be a contributing factor to Turkey's failure to win a seat in the United Nations Security Council in the 2014 Security Council election.[17][18] Kurds and the Turkish opposition have also accused the government of actively supporting ISIL.[19][20]

On 20 July 2015,

a bombing in the Turkish district of Suruç, allegedly perpetrated by the ISIL-linked Dokumacılar group, killed 32 young activists and injured over 100. On 23 July, ISIL militants attacked Turkish military positions, killing one soldier and injuring two others. This was largely seen as a casus belli, which resulted in Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu
taking the decision to begin active air operations against PKK and ISIL positions south of Turkey's border.

Motivation

The Turkish government claimed the operation was an effort to pre-empt a planned attack on Turkey[21] and by saying: "The state of the Republic of Turkey is decisive in taking any precaution to safeguard its national security".[12]

Chronology

24 July, morning

At 03:12 on 24 July, four

the soldier reportedly killed in an ISIL attack on 23 July on Turkish soldiers, Yalçın Nane.[22] The jets used guided missiles to bomb two ISIL headquarters and one ISIL gathering point in Syria, near village Havar.[12] Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu claimed 100% accuracy. The jets bombed the sites without entering Syrian airspace, and the Syrian government was informed of the attack, according to Turkish officials.[23] The operation took 1 hour and 12 minutes.[24] It was reported that 35 ISIL militants had been killed during the operation.[8][25] According to the SOHR, Turkish Armed Forces killed 11 IS fighters.[26][27]

24 July, evening

On the evening of 24 July, over 20 fighter jets took off from

Solution process.[28]

Three ISIL targets were reported to have been struck.[29]

Attack on Diyarbakır F-16s

At around 8pm local time on 24 July, attackers of unknown origin fired on F-16 fighter jets in Diyarbakır's main Air Base while they were taking off.[30] As a result, police officers and soldiers secured the area while the jets continued to conduct their operation.[31] The jets returned to their hangars after they returned. The perpetrators could not be identified.

Other Turkish shelling

On 24 July, Turkish tanks reportedly bombarded a village west of

People's Protection Units (YPG), resulting in four YPG fighters being injured.[32]

25 July

On 25 July, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announced that he had given the order to carry out a third wave air operation against ISIL targets, alongside a second wave in Iraq against the PKK.[citation needed] Davutoğlu called the airstrikes a part of a broad 'process' and gave support to the main opposition Republican People's Party's call for an extraordinary convention of the Grand National Assembly, which was in recess.[33][34]

The third wave (= the 25 July wave) began at around 10:20 local time on 25 July, with 70 F-16 fighter jets taking off from

İncirlik Air Base, while unmanned drones taking off from Batman Air Base assessed the damage to PKK targets.[35][36]

PKK targets

The operations were heavily directed towards the PKK camps in Northern Iraq, targeting over 400 positions. The ‘third wave’ itself was conducted in three different waves, with close to 70 fighter jets taking part in the first two and 25 taking part in the third. The targets encompassed over 300 kilometres, with many of the targets being identified as the PKK's main training and storage camps. The PKK reported that a senior official of the PKK had been killed while three other militants had been injured.[37] It was also alleged that the PKK's commander Murat Karayılan was killed during the airstrikes.[13]

Aftermath

Further information:
PKK rebellion (2015–present)

Reactions

  •  
    solution process with Kurdish rebels.[38]
  •  
    solution process with Kurdish rebels should be maintained.[40]
  •  United Kingdom – UK Prime Minister David Cameron expressed his support for Turkey's fight against terrorism during a phone call with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on 24 July.[41]
  •  
    Brett H. McGurk
    , stated that the US respect Turkey's right to self-defence against attacks from the PKK and condemned the PKK's attacks.

See also

  • Syrian Civil War
  • Ceylanpınar incidents

References

  1. ^ "Haber : Suruç patlaması canlı bomba hakkında şok iddia haberi". Internethaber (in Turkish). 22 July 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Türkiye'nin IŞİD ile PKK çatışması! İşte sınırdan son dakika haberler". milliyet.com.tr. 25 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b "PKK ve IŞİD hedefleri vuruldu". aydinlikgazete.com. 25 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)". fas.org.
  5. ^ "PKK kidnaps police officer in Diyarbakır". TodaysZaman. 24 July 2015. Archived from the original on 1 August 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  6. ^ RFI (26 July 2015). "Turquie: après la mort de deux soldats, la tension est à son comble". RFI.
  7. ^ "La Turquie reprend ses raids contre le PKK". La Presse. 26 July 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Hava saldırısında 35 IŞİD militanı öldürüldü". Haber7. 30 September 2014.
  9. ^ "14 dead in airstrikes by Turkish warplanes and coalition warplanes • the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights". 24 July 2015.
  10. ^ "186 killed yesterday 23/07/2015 • the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights". 25 July 2015.
  11. ^ "PKK'ya 160 sorti IŞİD'e top atışı!". gazetevatan.com.
  12. ^ a b c "Turkish airstrikes target ISIL in Syria". Hurriyet Daily News. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  13. ^ a b Sarızeybekhaber (25 July 2015). "'Murat Karayılan öldü' iddiası". Sarızeybekhaber. Archived from the original on 28 July 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  14. ^ "Turkey's war on ISIL marks major policy shift". aljazeera.com.
  15. ^ Patrick Cockburn (6 November 2014). "Whose side is Turkey on?: The Battle for Kobani". London Review of Books. 36 (21). Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  16. ^ a b "US military: Turkish airstrikes too close to US training sites". Rudaw. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  17. ^ "Turkey Fails in Bid to Join UN Security Council". New York Times. AP. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  18. ^ "Kurds across Turkey protest ISIL assault on Kobani". TodaysZaman. 7 October 2014. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  19. ^ "Turkey's Ties With ISIL Continue to Arouse Suspicions". VOA. 27 June 2014.
  20. ^ "Turkey 'let Isil cross border to attack Kobane': as it happened". Telegraph. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  21. ^ ‘Anticipating Attack, Strikes 3 ISIS Targets With Jets’. The New York Times, 24 July 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  22. ^ "Şehit Yalçın kimdir? IŞİD'e operasyonun adı Şehit Yalçın oldu!". sozcu.com.tr. 24 July 2015.
  23. ^ "TSK'nın Suriye'ye yaptığı hava operasyonu Şam yönetimine bildirildi". Bugun.com.tr. Archived from the original on 1 August 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  24. ^ "IŞİD'e F-16'larla hava operasyonu: 35 IŞİD'li öldürüldü". hurbakis.net. 5 January 2021.
  25. ^ "TSK operasyonu: 35 IŞİD'li öldürüldü". Haber1. 24 July 2015. Archived from the original on 1 August 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  26. ^ https://www.syriahr.com/en/26533/
  27. ^ https://www.syriahr.com/en/26544/
  28. ^ "PKK'dan küstah açıklama". Ensonhaber. 25 July 2015.
  29. ^ "Hava operasyonunda 2. dalga". NTV. 25 July 2015.
  30. ^ "Diyarbakır'da F-16'lara ateş açıldı". www.haberturk.com. 24 July 2015.
  31. ^ DİYARBAKIR (İHA) (25 July 2015). "Diyarbakır'da F-16'lara ateş açıldı". HÜRRİYET – TÜRKİYE'NİN AÇILIŞ SAYFASI.
  32. People's Protection Units
    (YPG). 1 August 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  33. ^ "Davutoğlu: 2. ve 3. Dalga Operasyonu Talimatı Verdik". Agos. 25 July 2015.
  34. ^ "AKP'den CHP'ye sürpriz destek". Çağdaş Ses. Archived from the original on 4 August 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  35. ^ "Operasyonda 3.dalga başladı: Hedef PKK – HABER BİZ – haber". haberbiz.com.
  36. ^ "IŞİD'e üçüncü, PKK'ya ikinci dalga hava operasyonu bu sabah yapıldı". t24.com.tr.
  37. ^ "PKK'ya 160 sorti IŞİD'e top atışı!". gazetevatan.com. 29 September 2021.
  38. ^ "AB'den "Çözüm Süreci" açıklaması". NTV. 25 July 2015.
  39. ^ "Der Spiegel: IŞİD'i anladık ama PKK'yı niye vurdunuz?". sozcu.com.tr (in Turkish). 25 July 2015.
  40. ^ "Merkel'den 'Barış Süreci' Vurgusu". Amerika'nin Sesi – Voice of America – Turkish. 26 July 2015.
  41. ^ "PM Davutoğlu talks with U.K. PM Cameron over recent terror attacks in Turkey". DailySabah. 25 July 2015.

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