Shafaq News/On Thursday, a Turkish drone strike in Duhok governorate killed members of theKurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
According toa statement from the Kurdistan Region’s Counter-Terrorism Agency, the attacktargeted two vehicles in the village of Nasra, located in the Amedi district ofDuhok. "A Turkish army drone struck the vehicles, resulting in the deathsof four PKK members."
Theairstrike is part of Turkiye’s ongoing military operations against the PKK innorthern Iraq, where the group has maintained a presence despite Turkishefforts to dismantle its operations.
The conflictbetween Turkiye and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has its origins in theearly 1980s when the PKK began its armed struggle for an independent Kurdishstate within Turkiye. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, this conflict escalatedinto a full-scale insurgency, with the PKK employing guerrilla tactics and theTurkish military responding with major operations targeting PKK strongholds,both within Turkiye and across the border in northern Iraq.
In recentdevelopments, on August 15, following two days of high-level securitydiscussions in Ankara, Turkiye and Iraq signed a significant agreement aimed atstrengthening military, security, and counter-terrorism cooperation, explicitlyfocused on combating the PKK. This accord includes the establishment of jointcoordination and training centers in Baghdad and the Bashiqa region in northernIraq.
Turkiye'sForeign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking alongside Iraqi Foreign Minister FuadHussein after the talks, hailed the agreement as having "historicalimportance." Fuad Hussein similarly emphasized that the deal was "thefirst of its kind in the history of Iraq and Turkiye," particularly in theareas of defense and security.
Followingthe signing, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler told Reuters that theserecent counter-terrorism measures undertaken by both countries marked a significantturning point in Turkiye-Iraq relations. Guler also pressed Baghdad to take anadditional step by officially designating the PKK as a terrorist organization,underscoring Ankara’s demand for stronger regional cooperation in its fightagainst the Kurdish insurgent group.
Thisagreement marks a strategic shift in the regional efforts against the PKK andcould lead to intensified military coordination between Turkiye and Iraq asthey seek to eliminate PKK operations in northern Iraq, where the group hasmaintained a significant presence.