Turkey, along with the United States and the European Union, has designated the PKK as a terrorist group, since the PKK took arms against the Turkish state
On August 10, 2020, Turkey announced that it would continue its operation against the Kurdish militants in Northern Iraq if the problem of militancy in the region was overlooked by the Iraqi authorities. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the presence of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê: ?PKK) also threatened Iraq and that it was Baghdad’s responsibility to take measures against the militants, but that Ankara will defend its borders if the PKK’s presence is allowed. “Our country is ready to cooperate with Iraq on this issue.
However, in the event PKK presence in Iraq is overlooked, our country is determined to take the measures it deems necessary for its border security no matter where it may be,” the Ministry said. “We call on Iraq to take the necessary steps for this.” Turkey, along with the United States and the European Union, has designated the PKK as a terrorist group, since the PKK took arms against the Turkish state. The PKK has been engaged in a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state for expanded Kurdish rights and autonomy in the country. Turkey accuses the PKK of trying to create a separate state.
According to a May 2020 report, by the conflict watchdog Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), majority of armed engagements between the Turkish military and the PKK in 2020 took place inside the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Engagements between Turkish state forces and the PKK have increased, following a decline at the end of 2019. On January 10, the Turkish military announced the beginning of a new operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in the rural regions of Turkey near the border with Iraq – the first of several small operations against the PKK in 2020. The ACLED analysis mentioned that Turkey’s campaign against the PKK has not been limited to the Turkish soil as 77 percent of all engagements between Turkey and the PKK took place on the Turkish soil. The ACLED report further mentioned that air and drone strikes composed 76% of these engagements demonstrating Turkey’s reliance on air power in its fight against the PKK.
In June 2020, Turkey launched operations Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle in Sinjar, Qandil, Karacak, Zap, Avasin-Basyan and Hakurk regions of northern Iraq. According to the Turkish Defence Ministry, Operation Claw-Eagle has been launched in response to an increase of attacks and attempted attacks against Turkish police and military bases which has been carried out “to ensure the security of the Turkish people and the country’s borders by neutralising the PKK and other terrorist organisations.” The operations are being commanded by Turkey’s Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, alongside officers from Turkey’s Armed Forces Command and involve jets, typically the F16 fighter, alongside unmanned aerial vehicles, and refuelling support aircraft. Ibrahim Kalin, a Spokesman for Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remarked, “Regardless of the location, we will eradicate terrorist nests that endanger our country’s security. Terrorism and its backers will definitely lose”.
The Turkish action in northern Iraq, in part reflects concerns at the growth of Kurdish power and autonomy in Syria, a by-product of the Syrian Civil War. Turkey regards the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (Partiya Yekîtiya Demokrat?: PYD) and the People’s Protection Units (Yekîneyên Parastina Gel: YPG) militia as franchises of the PKK, although the organisations themselves deny this. Turkey is opposed to the PKK in its various iterations and wants to prevent unrest among the Kurdish minorities in the country.
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