Turkey Air Raid Kills 200 Kurdish Fighters in Syria

http://news.antiwar.com/2016/10/20/turkey-air-raid-kills-200-kurdish-fighters-in-syria/

Turkey Air Raid Kills 200 Kurdish Fighters in Syria

Kurds Were Attacking ISIS at the Time

by Jason Ditz, October 20, 2016
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Turkey has long insisted they view the Kurdish YPG and ISIS as basically the same thing. Overnight incidents around the city of Afrin, however, show that when the two forces are in close proximity, the Turkish military is definitely going after the Kurds.
The Kurdish YPG forces were launching an offensive near Afrin against the ISIS fighters when a flurry of Turkish airstrikes were launched against them, described as the single biggest attack Turkey has launched against Kurds since their invasion back in August. Turkish officials estimated 200 Kurds killed.
Turkey has long objected to US support for the Kurds in Syria, and particularly complained about the Kurds taking formerly ISIS-held areas. Afrin is its own sore spot for Turkey, since it is far west of the rest of Syrian Kurdistan, though it has been a Kurdish area since at least the 19th century.
Since Turkey’s August invasion, they’ve demanded the Kurds withdraw from any area west of the Euphrates River, and have also talked of taking full miliitary control of their entire border region with Syria, which would include a large amount of Kurdish territory. So far, they’ve not attempted ground invasions of any Kurdish-held lands, but these airstrikes are a continuation and escalation of the existing hostility toward the Kurds, and suggest the invasion may be only a matter of time.

http://news.antiwar.com/2016/10/20/syria-threatens-to-shoot-down-any-turkish-airplanes-entering-their-airspace/

Syria Threatens to Shoot Down Any Turkish Airplanes Entering Their Airspace

Slams Turkey for 'Blatant Aggression' Against Kurdish Forces

by Jason Ditz, October 20, 2016
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Syria’s military has responded to reports that Turkish warplanes killed 200 Kurdish fighters in northern Syria strikes with a statement condemning Turkey for “blatant aggression” and waning them against launching any further attacks inside Syrian airspace.
“Any attempt to once again breach Syrian airspace by Turkish warplanes will be dealt with and they will be brought down by all means available,” the statement from Syrian general command warned. The Syrian government has long complained of Turkey and other US coalition members violating their airspace, but this is the first explicit threat to do anything about it.
It could be shrewd timing on Syria’s part, as the Kurds are reeling following the huge Turkish airstrikes around Afrin, and the US, the normal go-to ally for Kurdish officials, is going out of its way to back Turkey on general terms. The Kurds have long seen themselves less as part of the ongoing rebellion in Syria as part of their own faction trying to secure relative autonomy within Syrian Kurdistan, which is also a main reason Turkey opposes them.
The combination of the Kurds not being part of the Arab nationalist or Islamist rebellions and their focus on resisting ISIS takeover has long positioned them separately from the other factions in Syria, and while they’ve sparred with the Syrian government on occasion over specific areas, they haven’t been at overt war with them, meaning Syria’s willingness to stand up for them against Turkish attacks could be very welcome indeed.