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Fact check: Is Turkey using ISIS as an excuse to fight the Kurds?

Air strike (for generic use) CJTF-OIR
Turkey has carried out air strikes against both the Islamic State and Kurdish separatists
Late last month, Turkey launched airstrikes on so-called Islamic State (ISIS) in what the United States welcomed as a major moment in developing a joint strategy to tackle the Islamist militants.

But one day later, Ankara also renewed its military campaign against the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), mostly by bombing rebel bases across the border in the mountains of northern Iraq. Turkey fought a bloody 30-year civil war with the PKK separatists until an historic ceasefire in 2013.

Is Turkey faking its commitment to taking on ISIS so it can go after its longtime Kurdish foes?


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