Turkish airstrikes kill 27 PKK members in Northern Iraq: Defense Ministry
Shafaq News/ 27 Kurdistan Workers'Party (PKK) members were killed in airstrikes on their positions in theKurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), the Turkish Defense Ministry announced onFriday
According to a ministry statementreported by Turkiye's state-run Anadolu Agency, “The total number of PKKterrorists neutralized in northern Iraq over the past 4 days has reached 27.”
“This Monday, air operations werecarried out in the Metina, Zap, Gara, Hakurk, Qandil, and Asos regions, whereat least 20 terrorists were initially reported neutralized.”
Notably, Turkish authorities use theterm "neutralize" to indicate that the members in question wereeither killed, captured, or surrendered.
The PKK maintains strongholds in KRI,where Turkiye has had a military presence for 25 years. Designated a terroristorganization by Turkiye, the US, and the EU, the PKK began an insurgencyagainst Ankara in 1984 to create an independent Kurdish state. Over time, itsobjectives shifted to seeking autonomy in southeastern Turkiye.
The conflict, which has resulted inover 40,000 deaths, initially focused on rural areas of southeastern Turkiyebut has increasingly moved to the mountainous regions of northern Iraq'ssemi-autonomous Kurdistan.
For years, Turkiye has conductedcross-border military operations, effectively controlling or overseeing largeareas of the Syrian and Iraqi territories adjacent to Turkiye.
Last month, Ankara announced amilitary cooperation agreement with Iraq, which includes the establishment ofjoint training and command centers. Baghdad also declared its decision to banthe PKK as a political party.
