The Turkish Armed Forces will conduct a comprehensive ground operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), banned in the country, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Iraq.
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Erdogan’s visit to Iraq is planned for Monday. The Turkish Armed Forces expect to conduct a large-scale ground military operation in northern Iraq against the PKK in the summer months, Hürriyet previously reported. Erdogan has repeatedly stated that Ankara expects to “resolve the border security issue” with Iraq in the summer. According to him, the Turkish side also seeks to create a security corridor 30-40 kilometers deep in Syria.
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It is clarified that Ankara expects to “close” all 378 kilometers of the border with Iraq from terrorists with this operation.
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“President Erdogan said, ‘We are going to close the circle that will secure our Iraqi border. God willing, this summer we will finally resolve the issue related to our Iraqi border.” After Erdogan’s visit to Iraq, a comprehensive ground operation will be carried out against the PKK,” Abdulkadir Selvi, close to government circles said.
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It is stated that the concept of this operation will be different.
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“Because we are planning to carry out this operation together with the central government of Baghdad, the administration of Erbil and the Hashd al-Shaabi (Shiite militia). The Turkish armed forces will conduct the operation in Iraq on the ground with the support of the Air Force. The goal is to create a safe line in the depths 30-40 kilometers from our 378-kilometer Iraqi border. The attacks on our bases on December 22-23 and January 24 made the creation of a buffer zone inevitable,” local media write.
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The armed conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party began in Turkey in 1984 and resumed in 2015. In northern Iraq there are PKK bases, against which the Turkish Armed Forces are conducting air and ground operations. The presence of Turkish troops in the Zlikan camp, northeast of Mosul, has become a point of contention between Baghdad and Ankara, which justifies its deployment as necessary to fight the PKK.
