Erdogan 'regrets' Peshmerga casualties, issues no apologies

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday expressed regret over the killing of at least five Kurdistan Region Peshmerga soldiers by airstrikes from his country’s warplanes but issued no apologies.

“Targets there were hit with 100 percent of precision,” Erdogan told Reuters.

“But, we received information that five-six Peshmergas died in the meantime,” he continued. “This, of course, is something undesirable.”

“It caused regret on our part,” said Erdogan claiming Turkey had informed Kurdistan Region authorities about imminent attacks on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) affiliates’ positions near the town on Shingal (Sinjar).

“We are obliged to take measures. We must take steps. We shared this with the US and Russia, and we are sharing it with Iraq as well,” Erdogan explained.

“It is an operation that [Kurdistan Region’s President Masoud] Barzani has been informed about,” the Turkish leader continued.

“It was a surprise,” revealed the Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council Masrour Barzani earlier in the day to The New York Times.

“We asked for some clarification but have not received any answers yet,” he added. “I hope on the Turkish side it was a mistake.”

Airstrikes on Kurdish positions in the nearby northeastern Syria killed 28 US-allied People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters as of Wednesday and wounded 19 others, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Ankara views YPG, whose effectiveness in the war against the Islamic State (IS) proved vital for US and Western interests, as a “terror group” for having ties with the PKK.

On the other hand, the other Kurdish ally of the US, the Kurdistan Region maintains non-hostile relations with Turkey despite setbacks complicated by PKK’s presence in its mountains and Shingal.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu defended the legitimacy of airstrikes on Kurds.

Cavusoglu said his country informed the US-led Coalition forces’ coordination center in Qatar “two hours” before the massive assault which the Turkish army claimed killed 70 Kurdish fighters in both Syria and Iraq.

Pentagon officials had earlier said they were informed only one hour before the strikes, and Turks went ahead despite objections from the Coalition.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany