The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford met with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar over the weekend, when they discussed a multitude of issues of mutual concern.
According to an anonymous “high-ranking” Turkish source who spoke to Hurriyet, Dunford agreed that Turkey had a right to intervene against the PKK in Shingal if the group establishes a permanent presence there.
“The PKK has been trying to take control of the town and turn it into a second headquarters, like the Qandil Mountains in Kurdistan, in order to use it as a passage between its regions of control in Iraq and Syria,” the source said.
“KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government) President Masoud Barzani has told us that he is uncomfortable with the situation and he could intervene,” the source added. “We told the Americans that if the PKK attempted to turn Sinjar (Shingal) into a second Qandil, it would be a threat to Turkey’s national security and we would definitely intervene. General Dunford said that under circumstances of national security, that would be Turkey’s right.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also warned of the possibility of Shingal becoming a “new Qandil” for the PKK, adding that “we cannot allow it to happen.”
The PKK has used Qandil as a headquarters for its war against Turkey since the late 1990s. Turkey has attacked and bombed the fighters in the mountains numerous times, but has not been able to remove them.
