Turkey fortifies Iraq bases as political turmoil continues in Baghdad

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey released new footage of its fortified bases deep inside Iraqi territory on Sunday with its armed-to-the-teeth soldiers patrolling the Kurdistan Region’s snow-capped mountains, at a time when the Islamic State (ISIS) has become increasingly assertive in its attacks on Iraqi security forces and the political crisis in Baghdad deepens, as political parties jostle to select a new president and cabinet. 

The video published by the Turkish defense ministry shows heavy artillery being fired at locations in the Kurdistan Region, with members of its special forces patrolling canyons and firing heavy machine guns at the gorges below. Drones patrolling the sky filmed Turkish bases on mountain tops, deep in meters of snow.

Turkey has come under criticism from Baghdad, Erbil, Tehran and the wider international community for violating Iraqi sovereignty, but Ankara continues to establish increasing numbers of bases and outposts in the mountains of Erbil and Duhok provinces. Turkey says that it is in the mountains of northern Iraq to cut off the path of militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and to prevent them from crossing into the Kurdish areas in the southeast of the country and attacking the security forces.

On Friday, artillery reportedly fired by the Turkish army, destroyed 20 beehives of a villager in the Kani Masi sub-district in Duhok province, according to the owner. “This is our situation from the Turks, we call on our government to find a solution for us,” Haji Ibrahim from Hiror village pleaded as he filmed his destroyed beehives. “These were our beehives and this is where the shell landed, there was no one here, PKK or anyone else.” The artillery shell landed less than ten meters from Haji Ibrahim’s house.

Dozens of Kurdish civilians have been killed or wounded by the Turkish airstrikes and artillery fire in recent years, as Turkey has intensified its war against the PKK using fleets of drones and US manufactured F-16 fighter jets.

Meanwhile, Iraqi political parties - including the two main Kurdish parties - are at war over who is going to be the next president and who should be tasked with forming the next cabinet in Baghdad. Iranian, American, British and European officials appear to be busy as they attempt to reconcile different factions and parties to save what little stability exists in Iraq.

In the Kurdistan Region, the rivalry between the two main ruling parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), over who should be the next president could threaten the fragile balance of power within the Kurdistan Region.

The KDP appears to be against a second term for current President Barham Salih, the PUK’s sole candidate for the position. Both parties are trying to build stronger alliances in Baghdad to see their candidate victorious in Iraq's parliament on February 7.

The Sadrist Movement secured the largest number of seats in the legislature, giving its leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, the upper hand in forming a new government. Nevertheless, Sadr has to manage tensions with rival Shiite parties, especially the Coordination Framework, which is an alliance of Shiite factions that continues to object to the election results to this day.

According to a long-standing customary agreement, the three main leadership positions in the Iraqi government are divided among Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis. Whereas Kurds get the presidency, Shiites get the premiership, and Sunnis get the parliamentary speaker.

Meanwhile, ISIS has become increasingly assertive in recent months as it has launched a myriad of attacks against Iraqi security forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga. The recent attack on al-Sina’s prison in Hasaka in northeast Syria (Rojava), caused Iraqi officials to worry about the group and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi flew to the border area with Syria to show that his security forces were in charge as ISIS increased its attacks on Iraqi security forces in the disputed territories.

The attack on the prison in Hasaka showed ISIS has maintained its sophistication in launching brazen attacks. The militants fought the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) inside the prison for several days, leading to the deaths of at least 495 people, including 374 ISIS members and 121 members of the Kurdish-led security forces and prison guards, according to the SDF. The fate of many ISIS militants within the prison remains unknown.

Turkey is continuing its attacks inside Iraq and the Kurdistan Region reportedly in the pursuit of the PKK militarizing the border areas, but causing untold suffering to the civilians and irreparable damage to the environment.

“A total of 172 terrorists, 25 in northern Iraq and 147 in northern Syria, were neutralized as of January 1,” the ministry said in a statement published with the video, referring to the Kurdistan Region without saying its name. 

In April of last year, Turkey launched Operations Claw-Lightning and Claw-Thunderbolt against the PKK in the Metina and Avashin areas of northern Duhok, near the border. “Last year, 2,883 terrorists were neutralized in 397 operations,” the ministry noted in the statement.