To the irritation of the US, Turkey carried out airstrikes

To the irritation of the US, Turkey carried out airstrikes Tuesday against US allies in Syria and Iraq. A day later, it was revealed that Erdogan’s government had detained another 1,000 “opposition” figures, in an ongoing purge that has outraged Europe.

Basking in his referendum win this month, which altered the constitution to give him sweeping new powers, the Turkish leader appears intent on testing his opponents, and some of his allies, too.

He has taken his referendum victory as a sign that Turks are happy with his government’s crackdown following last July’s failed military coup, which has gutted the opposition, civil society and free press.

And the emboldened President appears to be taking this new confidence abroad. The airstrikes in Syria and Iraq mark an escalation by Turkey and put it in conflict with the US-led coalition’s mission against ISIS in those countries.

Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces – the main US ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria – and the Iraq-based Kurdish Peshmerga said at least 25 of their fighters were killed Tuesday in the airstrikes. The People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Kurdish faction of the Syrian Democratic Forces, is considered a terrorist group by Turkey’s government; it is armed and supported by the United States.

Turkey’s air force claimed it was actually targeting members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), considered a terrorist organization by both Turkey and the United States. But Turkey often bands the PKK and YPG together. Seventy people were killed in the raids, the air force said.

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