In April 2022, Turkey initiated “Operation Claw-Lock”, stating that it was necessary to safeguard the borders against northern Iraq. The country accused Kurdish insurgents of initiating assaults on Turkish territory from this location.
President Tayyip Erdogan declared “we will very soon complete the lockdown of the area of operation in northern Iraq.” He also added that Kurdish fighters were now “incapable of acting inside our borders”. Announcing that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was “all over them” by Turkish soldiers, Erdogan stated that the PKK was “completely trapped” in both Syria and Iraq.
Erdogan’s remarks align with those made by Turkey’s Defense Minister Yasar Guler earlier this week, when he said that his nation was “determined” to wipe out the border region with Iraq and nearby Syria of “terrorists”.
Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler has recently said that Ankara is “fully determined to create a 19 – 25-mile deep security corridor along our Iraqi and Syrian borders and to completely clear the region of terrorists”. He also added “we will continue operations until the last terrorist is neutralized.”
Since 2019, Turkish military have conducted overseas operations in northern Iraq against terrorists affiliated with the PKK.
The PKK began using weapons against the Turkish state in 1984 after being labeled as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU. During the insurgency, almost 40,000 individuals have lost their lives.
Long-term Conflict
Turkey and Kurdish separatists have a long history of hostilities, and Turkey has frequently undertaken operations in neighboring countries to combat militants it believes are hiding there. Since 1984, the PKK has waged an intermittent military conflict within Turkey.
Established in 1978, the group with Marxist influences is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and the majority of its Western supporters, such as the US and the EU. Both of them are present in northern Iraq, where Turkey has been operating from a number of military bases against the Kurdish militia.
Iraq has lately condemned the Turkish army’s latest intrusions into its territory in the autonomous Kurdistan region and urged Ankara to address security concerns diplomatically. Local media in Iraq has claimed that Turkish strikes have increased, resulting in many border fires. According to certain accounts, Turkish military have established additional positions.
The Turkish military ministry blamed Kurdish insurgents for the announcement on Friday that a homemade explosive device in northern Iraq had killed one soldier and injured another.
