ISTANBUL—Turkey has ramped up its cross-border strikes on Kurdish YPG militants in Syria and Iraq, while Iran struck dissident groups in northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region this week.
Russia and the United States, both of which maintain troops in Syria, have called on Turkey to show restraint amid fears of widening conflict in the region.
Since Nov. 20, Turkish warplanes, artillery, and combat drones have pounded YPG positions in northern Syria and northern Iraq.
According to Turkish defense minister Hulusi Akar, more than 300 YPG militants have been “neutralized” since the strikes began earlier this week.
Dubbed “Operation Claw-Sword,” the ongoing wave of cross-border strikes comes in response to a Nov. 13 bombing in central Istanbul that left six people dead and scores more injured….