Turkiye's Defense Ministry announces killing of 5 PKK members in Duhok
Shafaq News/ On Friday, the TurkishMinistry of Defense announced the killing of several members of the KurdistanWorkers' Party (PKK) in an operation targeting their location in the KurdistanRegion of Iraq (KRI).
The ministry stated in a press release, reported by the Turkish Anadolu Agency,that “a fighter jet struck a PKK position on Kara Mountain, northeast of Duhokgovernorate, killing five members,” confirming that operations against the PKKare continuing at an accelerated pace.
On Thursday, a Turkish drone strike targetedtwo vehicles in the village of Nasra, in Al-Amadiya district of Duhok, killing fourPKKmembers.
Notably, Turkiye conducts operations to combat the PKK, which targets itsforces and citizens and operates in several countries in the region, includingIraq, Syria, and Iran.
The PKK has established a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains in the KRI and isactive in various cities, regions, and valleys, launching attacks on Turkishterritory from there.
The conflict between Turkiye and thePKK has its origins in the early 1980s when the PKK began its armed strugglefor an independent Kurdish state within Turkiye. Throughout the 1980s and1990s, this conflict escalated into a full-scale insurgency, with the PKKemploying guerrilla tactics and the Turkish military responding with majoroperations targeting PKK strongholds, both within Turkiye and across the borderin northern Iraq.
In recent developments, on August15, following two days of high-level security discussions in Ankara, Turkiyeand Iraq signed an agreement aimed at strengthening military, security, andcounter-terrorism cooperation, explicitly focused on combating the PKK. Thisaccord includes the establishment of joint coordination and training centers inBaghdad and the Bashiqa region in northern Iraq.
Turkiye's Foreign Minister HakanFidan, speaking alongside Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein after the talks,hailed the agreement as having "historical importance." Fuad Husseinsimilarly emphasized that the deal was "the first of its kind in thehistory of Iraq and Turkiye," particularly in the areas of defense andsecurity.
