Turkey's air operations against terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq intensified in mid-2015. Following the martyrdom of Petty Officer Yalçın Nane as a result of fire opened by Syria in the early hours of the morning of July 20, 2015, the reaction of the Turkish Armed Forces came to the fore. Following this incident, three different targets belonging to ISIS were hit by F-16 warplanes in a night operation in accordance with the international rules of engagement.
The second leg of the operation was carried out by F-16s taking off from the 8th Main Jet Base in Diyarbakır on the evening of July 25, 2015. This time, the target was nine different camps located in the north of Iraq and determined to belong to the PKK. These structures in Zap, Metina, Basyan, Kandil, Hakurk, Sinat, Haftanin, Avaşin and Gara regions were bombed on the same night.
Following this operation, the operation was named "Martyr Yalçın Operation" in memory of the martyred Petty Officer Yalçın Nane.
At that time, Turkish security forces had to constantly put pressure on both the terrorist threat within the country and the organizations beyond the border. PKK's other camps, especially Qandil, and ISIS's positions in Syria were points that were constantly monitored and operational interventions were made when necessary, in accordance with the national security strategy.
These operations aimed to increase deterrence against organizations and meet Turkey's security needs as soon as possible.
In the first night operation, three F-16 planes taking off from Diyarbakır took off at 03.12 and destroyed three ISIS targets in the operation that lasted until 04.24 in the morning. The operation lasted about an hour and a half and according to the evaluations, it was reported that two headquarters and a meeting center were completely destroyed and 35 ISIS members lost their lives.
Military officials announced that the option of a land operation was on the table if deemed necessary within the framework of international law.