Middle East
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaking in Istanbul on November 28, 2022. Photo: AA
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that his forces are determined to eliminate the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) domestically and across the Syrian and Iraqi borders, a week after Ankara launched a long-planned cross-border military operation on Kurdish positions.
Turkey on November 20 launched Operation Claw-Sword targeting Kurdish positions in northern Syria and the Kurdistan Region from the skies. The operation, according to Erdogan, is a prelude to a looming ground offensive in those areas.
“We are determined to root out this terrorist organization, which poses a threat to the territorial integrity of Syria and Iraq, as well as our country,” Erdogan said during a conference in Istanbul as reported by state-owned Anadolu Agency.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Saturday said that 16 of its fighters lost their lives in the latest Turkish military campaign, with General Commander Mazloum Abdi calling on the United States to take a stronger position against Turkey.
“Of course, in this bloodshed … those who provide these terrorists with weapons and support (them) under the pretext of fighting against Daesh [Islamic State] have a share,” Erdogan stated, referring to the international coalition which has been a key ally to the SDF in the fight against ISIS and supplied the Kurdish force with arms.
The SDF, a key US ally, was the primary force that defeated ISIS in Syria in 2019, reclaiming swathes of territory from the terror group as their backbone - the People’s Protection Units (YPG) - received worldwide recognition for their successful resistance to ISIS as the terror group pounded on the northern Syrian Kurdish city of Kobane in 2014.
Abdi on Saturday said the SDF has stopped operations against ISIS due to the Turkish attacks as the Kurdish force is busy defending against the strikes.
Turkey claims that the YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, and has designated both groups as terrorists while constantly targeting their positions southward across the border.
According to the Rojava Information Center (RIC), around 12,000 SDF fighters were killed in the fight against ISIS.
The Turkish operation came a few days after a TNT-laden bomb killed six people and injured 81 others in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul. Turkish authorities have blamed the PKK and YPG but both groups have strongly rejected the accusation.
Speaking at the conference, Erdogan again blamed the PKK for the deadly Istanbul attack.
Abdi called for the launching of an international fact-finding investigation on the Istanbul attack.
“Most of the people behind this attack are affiliated to ISIS [Islamic State]. We will inform the public once we confirm it. We call for the launching of an international investigation regarding this incident so that the truth is exposed,” he stressed.
Over in the Kurdistan Region, Turkey launched Operation Claw-Lock targeting the PKK in the mountainous areas of Duhok province in April, while the new operation mainly targets the group in Sulaimani province.
On Friday, Turkey’s defense ministry announced that the PKK killed three of its soldiers in Duhok province.
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