ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s defense ministry announced on Thursday it targeted alleged Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) positions in the mountainous areas of the Kurdistan Region.
The ministry announced on X that it had targeted a total of 39 alleged PKK positions consisting of “shelters, hideouts and caves” in the Zap, Metina, Gara, Khakurk, and Qandils areas on March 19 and March 20.
The announcement comes two days after the Turkish defense ministry stated that PKK fighters attacked its forces in the Kurdistan Region, killing one soldier and injuring four others.
On Saturday the PKK announced that its fighters attacked Turkish army positions in the Kurdistan Region, killing two soldiers and injuring three others.
According to the ministry, the targeted positions harbored high-ranking PKK operatives.
Turkey has recently upped its efforts to curb the PKK threat on its border with the Kurdistan Region. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier this month that Ankara is close to completing a zone that will “permanently resolve” the security issues along their border with the Kurdistan Region and Iraq by the summer.
He also called on everyone in the region to respect Ankara’s security strategy, or else “be the cause of the tensions that will arise.”
The PKK announced on Wednesday that it had downed 15 drones since February 2023, the latest drone being shot down on March 1. The group also noted that it has acquired new missile systems to shoot down Turkish drones, without providing details on the type and quantity of the acquisition.
Last week, a high-level Turkish delegation consisting of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yasar Guler, and the head of the intelligence agency (MIT) Ibrahim Kalin, arrived in Baghdad to hold a second round of high-level security talks. The first round of talks was held in Ankara in December.
A day after the meeting, the Iraqi National Security Council banned the PKK from operating in the country, claiming that the group poses a threat to Baghdad and neighboring Turkey.
The ministry announced on X that it had targeted a total of 39 alleged PKK positions consisting of “shelters, hideouts and caves” in the Zap, Metina, Gara, Khakurk, and Qandils areas on March 19 and March 20.
The announcement comes two days after the Turkish defense ministry stated that PKK fighters attacked its forces in the Kurdistan Region, killing one soldier and injuring four others.
On Saturday the PKK announced that its fighters attacked Turkish army positions in the Kurdistan Region, killing two soldiers and injuring three others.
According to the ministry, the targeted positions harbored high-ranking PKK operatives.
Turkey has recently upped its efforts to curb the PKK threat on its border with the Kurdistan Region. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier this month that Ankara is close to completing a zone that will “permanently resolve” the security issues along their border with the Kurdistan Region and Iraq by the summer.
He also called on everyone in the region to respect Ankara’s security strategy, or else “be the cause of the tensions that will arise.”
The PKK announced on Wednesday that it had downed 15 drones since February 2023, the latest drone being shot down on March 1. The group also noted that it has acquired new missile systems to shoot down Turkish drones, without providing details on the type and quantity of the acquisition.
Last week, a high-level Turkish delegation consisting of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yasar Guler, and the head of the intelligence agency (MIT) Ibrahim Kalin, arrived in Baghdad to hold a second round of high-level security talks. The first round of talks was held in Ankara in December.
A day after the meeting, the Iraqi National Security Council banned the PKK from operating in the country, claiming that the group poses a threat to Baghdad and neighboring Turkey.
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