Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar during a North Atlantic Council meeting with Georgia and Ukraine at NATO headquarters in Brussels February 17, 2022. OLIVIER MATTHYS/AP
Turkey announced Monday April 18 that it had launched a new air and ground offensive against Turkish Kurdish rebels stationed in northern Iraq. Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said commandos, drones and attack helicopters had launched the offensive against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) hideouts in three regions near the Turkish border.
“A large number of terrorists have been neutralized,” he said, assuring that the operation would gather momentum “in the coming hours and days.” The minister did not say how many soldiers were involved in the offensive, which he said was launched on Sunday evening.
A PKK spokesman, who did not want to be named, spoke of intense fighting between the Turkish army and the HPG [Forces de défense du peuple] », the military wing of the party. “The Army of Occupation [nom donné à l’armée turque par le PKK]who tried to land troops from helicopters also tried a land push, he said.
Visit of the Prime Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan
Turkey regularly raids the positions of the PKK, which Ankara and its western allies describe as “terrorist” and has bases and training camps in the Sinjar region and in the mountainous areas of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Read also Article reserved for our subscribers The PKK again targeted by the anti-terrorist judiciary
According to the Turkish Defense Ministry, this precise military operation was intended to thwart a large-scale PKK attack on Turkey. But the local media have been talking about such an operation for weeks.
The offensive was launched two days after Prime Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan Masrour Barzani visited Turkey, suggesting he was made aware of Ankara’s intentions. After talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Barzani said he was in favor of “expanding cooperation to promote security and stability” in northern Turkey.
The government of Iraqi Kurdistan has a complicated relationship with the PKK rebels, whose presence hampers trade relations with Turkey. The Turkish army’s offensives have also increased tensions between Ankara and Iraq’s central government in Baghdad, which accuses Turkey of not respecting the country’s territorial integrity.
Also read: Article reserved for our subscribers In Diyarbakir, Turkey, the Kurds in the dark