There is consensus on the notion that Erdoğan and his team restarted the war process after the Turkish army’s bombardment of Medya Defense Zones on July 25. Hundreds of location where the guerrillas are thought to be were bombed during these attacks. Thousands of civilians live in the areas under bombardments, and many civilians got injured during the attacks.

The Kurdish side evaluated these attacks as a declaration of war, but has not yet responded to the attacks with war. PKK is aware of the AKP’s plan of war and chaos, and is trying to repel these attacks without war. However, things have not changed much and we can say that the search for peace could only gain meaning if Erdoğan and his secret cabinet of war were out of the picture.

As Turkish warplanes bombed Qandil and other guerrilla zones, Turkish tanks bombarded YPG positions to the west of Kobanê and wounded 4 fighters.

Zor Mixar village is by the Euphrates River, located right across Jarablus. So the village is the last stop before Jarablus on the way from Kobanê. 5 tank bombs reached the village on the evening of July 27, and a YPG vehicle was attacked by soldier between Kobanê' and Tel Abyad near the border.

If we focus on the locations under heavy bombardment, we can see that AKP launched a dangerous war to break the Kurdish movement via Rojava. Attacks may happen in other locations but the target is Rojava, they think the Kurdish movement would be broken if Rojava fell.

After Tel Abyad, AKP government warned Rojava officials that YPG should not go to Jarablus, but it knows that Jarablus will be liberated from ISIS. AKP wants to prevent this and place its groups after the removal of ISIS. It is training people from Mınbıc and Jarablus for this purpose, but it is in delusion.

Airstrikes against Qandil is the rematch of the defeat in Rojava. Statements suggesting that the war finished in 2013 and there have not been any casualties are false. There has not been a single day without coffins’ arrival from Rojava. Under the pretense of solution, Turkey wanted to break the PKK militarily in Rojava through ISIS. However, it was ISIS that got defeated. In order to weaken the perception that Turkey collaborates with ISIS, AKP placed PKK and ISIS in the same category and argue that it is attacking both of them.

AKP can no longer wage the war in Rojava through ISIS. It has to change its weapon now and is trying to become more active in the coalition since it sees Kurds as a problem and cannot motivate other groups to fight them. Under the pretense of fighting ISIS, AKP is trying to use the power of US-led coalition in its fight against the PKK.

Attacks against Qandil happen under the knowledge of the US, and the US wants to use Turkey in its fight against ISIS in Syria. The US knows that ISIS would be finished if the relation between ISIS and Turkey had ended. However, this does not mean that Turkey will be a strong actor in Syria. With this new initiative, Turkey is trying to play a bigger role in Syria and prevent the Kurds from becoming an actor.

With its approval of the attacks, the US gives the message that its relationship with the Kurdish movement in Rojava is not strategic. For its own interests, the US would rather see a weak Kurdish movement.

KDP is another force in the equation of these attacks. Frankly, KDP plays a role that is worse than the role AKP plays. It is having a hard time because its internal chaos has not spilled over to Rojava. The grave results of its partnership with AKP can be seen clearly. KDP thinks that it will succeed in AKP succeeds, and is working towards filling the gap that would emerge after the planned defeat of the PKK. Neçirvan Barzani’s support for the air strikes targeting Qandil, and statement that they are ready to play the role of an interlocutor illustrates this KDP plan. KDP had been laying the foundations of PKK’s destruction by making it physically difficult for the guerrillas to operate.

The following sentence from the recent statement of People’s Defense Forces Headquarters shows how the developments will unfold:

'July 25 (the day bombardments started) will be remembered as the day when the AKP committed its worst political and militaristic mistake.’

In other words, Erdoğan and his followers will be remembered as defeated alongside ISIS due to the support they give to these barbarians.

*This piece by Kurdish journalist Amed Dicle was translated from Turkish by ANF English service.