Turkish airstrike on PKK positions in northern Duhok
Shafaq News/ On Wednesday, an informed security sourcereported that Turkish aircraft carried out an airstrike targeting KurdistanWorkers' Party (PKK) positions in the Matina Mountain range overlooking theAmadiya district, north of Duhok province.
The source told Shafaq News, "The bombing focused onthe peaks overlooking the villages of Koherzi and Palava, located in Nahiliarea, but the extent of the damage has not been determined yet."
Notably, Turkiye conducts operations to combat the PKK,which targets its forces and citizens and operates in several countries in theregion, including Iraq, Syria, and Iran.
The PKK has established a stronghold in the Qandil Mountainsin the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and is active in various cities, regions, andvalleys, launching attacks on Turkish territory from there.
The conflict between Turkiye and the PKK has its origins inthe early 1980s when the PKK began its armed struggle for an independentKurdish state within Turkiye. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, this conflictescalated into a full-scale insurgency, with the PKK employing guerrillatactics and the Turkish military responding with major operations targeting PKKstrongholds, both within Turkiye and across the border in northern Iraq.
In recent developments, on August 15, following two days ofhigh-level security discussions in Ankara, Turkiye and Iraq signed an agreementaimed at strengthening military, security, and counter-terrorism cooperation,explicitly focused on combating the PKK. This accord includes the establishmentof joint coordination and training centers in Baghdad and the Bashiqa region innorthern Iraq.
Turkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking alongsideIraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein after the talks, hailed the agreement ashaving "historical importance." Fuad Hussein similarly emphasizedthat the deal was "the first of its kind in the history of Iraq andTurkiye," particularly in the areas of defense and security.
