The attack was in retaliation to an increment in militant strikes on Turkish army bases, the Defence Ministry said. “The Claw-Eagle Operation has started. Our planes are bringing the caves down on the terrorists’ heads,” the Turkish Defence Ministry wrote on Twitter.
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants are often targeted by Turkey, in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast and in northern Iraq, where the group is based.
A security source told Reuters the aircraft were located in various air bases in Turkey.
The warplanes were prominently based in the southeastern cities of Diyarbakir and Malatya.
The defence ministry said the air operation had as objective the PKK in the area of its refuge at Qandil, near the Iranian boundary, as well as the regions of Sinjar, Zap, Avasin-Basyan and Hakurk.