Turkish officials denied that a deal has been reached which allows the United States use of its air bases, as Turkish F-16 and F-4 carried out air strikes on Kurdish PKK-held areas in the south of the country.
The Turkish prime minister’s office denied that a decision had been taken over the use of Incirlik airbase and that talks were still underway.
A Turkish official, speaking anonymously to the New York Times stated “talks, therefore, continue as we look into things we can do together while covering all these aspects.”
Meanwhile, Turkish jets bombed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in the South-East of the country. A ceasefire had been in place, but the attacks by the Turkish government make it the first major assault on the PKK since March 2013.
The Turkish general chief of staff said the military “opened fired immediately in retaliation, in the strongest terms” following repeated PKK attacks.
The strikes come after, at least 21 Kurds were been killed in demonstrations across Turkey last week, protesting against the Turkish government's reluctance to back Kurdish forces battling the Islamic State (IS).
See our earlier posts:
Turkey says action in Syria 'unrealistic' as IS captures districts in Kobane (09 October 2014)
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