Turkish strikes on Kurds stoke tensions with Syria as well
By BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press
BEIRUT (AP) — This weekend’s Turkish airstrikes targeting Kurdish fighters in northern Syria also threaten to stoke tensions with the Syrian government. Both Ankara and Damascus consider the Kurdish-led forces controlling north and east Syria their opponent. But Damascus is angered by Syrian soldiers also killed in the strikes and is concerned over a possible Turkish ground incursion into northern Syria. The increased tensions come as Russian efforts to broker a reconciliation between Turkey and Syria had just started to see some progress in recent months, with the reported help of Iran, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had expressed a willingness to eventually meet Syria’s president.
