Turkey has halted its airstrikes in Syria because its air force has been unable to carry out aerial campaigns as part of Operation Euphrates Shield since Oct. 22, after the Syrian government activated its air defense systems against the flight of Turkish warplanes in its airspace.
According to the Hurriyet Daily News, Turkish jets launched their last airstrike in Syria on Oct. 22, targeting Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) positions. “Since then, Turkey has not launched further strikes as Syria’s Russian-made air defense system was activated to cover the region under the Euphrates Shield operation,” a Turkish official told the Hürriyet Daily News on condition of anonymity. Coalition forces have also decreased their number of flights in northern Syria, the official said.
On Oct. 20, the Syrian regime warned Turkey to halt the entry of Turkish warplanes into Syrian airspace after Turkey carried out airstrikes overnight on Maarrat Umm Hawsh in northern Aleppo province.
Turkey’s General Staff announced in a statement on Oct. 10 that a Turkish airstrike had killed as many as 200 fighters of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing the People’s Defense Units (YPG) north of the Syrian city of Aleppo on Oct. 19.
The Turkish military said it hit 18 targets in 26 airstrikes in the areas under the control of Kurdish militias, destroying their headquarters, ammunition dumps and shelters in the Maarraat Umm Hawsh region in northern Syria.
In late August Turkey launched the Euphrates Shield operation in northern Syria, using its armor and air power to help Free Syrian Army fighters take territory near the border held by ISIL.
