Turkey’s operation against Kurds in Syria risks reviving IS group Turkey is threatening to send group troops into northeastern Syria in retaliation for a deadly Istanbul bombing on November 13 that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attributes to the Syrian Kurdish YPG (Kurdish People’s Protection Unit). The group has strongly denied responsibility for the attack. However, Erdogan now plans to escalate the assault in the region, building on the air operation launched on November 20, in a move that experts say risks destabilising the region, and reviving the Islamic State (IS) group.