Eko Hot Blog reports that Turkey launched the strikes – which hit targets in Syria and Iraq – in response to a bombing in Istanbul that killed six people earlier this month.
Ankara blames Kurdish militants for the bomb. They have denied any involvement.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the strikes were “only the beginning.”
Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said the operation had targeted 471 targets and killed hundreds of “terrorists”.
One of the places hit by the Turkish attack – dubbed Operation Claw-Sword – includes the Jerkin prison in Qamishli, which holds detainees from the Islamic State group, AFP said.
President Erdogan insisted Turkey was only targeting “terrorists”, and said he would “come down hard on the terrorists from land.”
He has blamed the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) for the Istanbul attack.
The PKK has been blacklisted as a terrorist group by both the European Union and the United States.
It has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 but denied any involvement in the Istanbul bombing that took place on 13 November.
Mr. Erdogan has repeatedly called for a 30-kilometer (19-mile) safe zone along Turkey’s southern border to prevent cross-border attacks.
“Our determination to secure all our southern border… with a safe zone is stronger today than ever before,” he told the Turkish parliament on Wednesday.
Russia, which has also intervened in Syria, has warned Turkey that a full-scale ground offensive could trigger an escalation of violence.
“We hope our arguments will be heard in Ankara and other ways of resolving the problem will be found”, Russian negotiator Alexander Lavrentyev said.
The US has also warned Turkey – a Nato ally – about the impact any escalation could have on the goal of fighting Islamic State militants in the region.
Source: BBC
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