Turkey launched a major ground offensive into northern Syria on Tuesday, deploying armored units and special forces across the border in what Ankara described as a direct response to a Kurdish militia car-bomb attack that killed 23 Turkish soldiers near the town of Ras al-Ayn. It is Turkey’s third full-scale ground operation into Syria since 2016.
The Turkish Defense Ministry said the operation, dubbed Edge of Steel, had captured three villages and was expanding southward to create what it called a “30-kilometer secure zone.” The SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces), the US-backed Kurdish-led militia, confirmed fierce fighting and said Turkish warplanes had struck a hospital in Hasakah province. Syrian state media called the strikes a war crime. The UN called for an immediate humanitarian corridor.
The attack that triggered the operation killed 23 Turkish soldiers — the highest single-day toll for Turkey in Syria since 2020. Ankara blamed the SDF for orchestrating the car bomb; the SDF denied involvement and said the attack was a rogue faction. Turkey’s parliament voted 287-14 to authorize the operation, with the governing AKP framing it as an existential security matter. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called Turkey’s right to self-defense “legitimate” but urged proportionality.
The US Central Command said it had no forces in the immediate strike zone and was monitoring the situation. Washington has backed the SDF since 2015 but has been pressing for a diplomatic settlement between Turkey and the Kurds. The Pentagon called the hospital strike “deeply concerning.” Russia, which coordinates with both Turkey and the Assad government through the Astana format, called an emergency session of the trilateral mechanism. Iran’s Foreign Ministry warned that any ground operation would have “consequences for the entire region.”
Oil prices held near $118 a barrel on continued concern about disruptions to Iraq’s northern export pipeline, which runs adjacent to the Kurdish-administered border region. Turkey’s lira fell 1.4% against the dollar before recovering. Turkish authorities closed airspace to commercial flights within 60 kilometers of the border and declared a state of emergency in six southeastern provinces.