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Turkey
A Turkish soldier looks down his sights in Elazig, Turkey during anti-PKK operations in Elazig, Turkey, in May 2019. File photo: AA
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Turkish Ministry of Defense reported on Monday that Ankara has “neutralized” 174 Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) guerillas amid recent operations on its borders with the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. However, the PKK has denied “any losses.”
Ankara uses the word neutralized to refer to those killed, wounded, or otherwise removed from the battlefield.
The ministry also shared video Sunday, purportedly showing PKK weapons “destroyed” in the framework of the second stage of the operation.
However, the People's Defence Forces (HPG), the armed wing of the PKK, denied the figures on Sunday, claiming that no losses among their fighters during both phases of Operation Claw, deeming it as propaganda.
“Turkish special war media has been making propaganda about the process and talking about a second operation,” read a HPG statement.
“The invading Turkish army, which suffers heavy blows from our guerilla forces every day, informed the public that a new operation was launched by distorting [the PKK’s alleged] defeat,” it added. The PKK “did not suffer any losses in these attacks.”
The ministry summarized: 71 individuals were “neutralized” in the first phase of Operation Claw, announced on May 27, three in the second phase and the remainder from other attacks against the PKK in Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s mountainous areas.
Ankara uses the word neutralized to refer to those killed, wounded, or otherwise removed from the battlefield.
The ministry also shared video Sunday, purportedly showing PKK weapons “destroyed” in the framework of the second stage of the operation.
However, the People's Defence Forces (HPG), the armed wing of the PKK, denied the figures on Sunday, claiming that no losses among their fighters during both phases of Operation Claw, deeming it as propaganda.
“Turkish special war media has been making propaganda about the process and talking about a second operation,” read a HPG statement.
“The invading Turkish army, which suffers heavy blows from our guerilla forces every day, informed the public that a new operation was launched by distorting [the PKK’s alleged] defeat,” it added. The PKK “did not suffer any losses in these attacks.”
However, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) an umbrella group of parties close to the PKK, confirmed on July 7 the death of senior PKK official Diyar Ghareeb due to recent Turkish airstrikes.
Both sides have been locked in a four decade-long, often armed conflict, resulting in the death of roughly 40,000 people, including civilians.
They reached a ceasefire deal in 2013 which lasted for more than two years, but deadly fighting soon resumed in Kurdish provinces in southeastern and eastern Turkey.
Some 4,472 people have been killed since the peace process fell apart on July 20, 2015, according to the most recent figures from the International Crisis Group (ICG).
The Turkish Interior Ministry announced the death of three of their soldiers in a fight against the PKK inside Turkey.
“In the framework of internal security operations, in rural areas of Hakkari [province] lolan jandermie forces conducted an operation today, three terrorists were neutralized alongside their weapons,” read the statement on Sunday.
Turkey’s regular strikes and the presence of PKK fighters in Kurdistan Region have concerned the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iraqi federal government.
Four civilians were killed in late June at the foot of Qandil Mountains, where PKK headquarters is located near the international borders with Turkey and Iran.
Masrour Barzani, the new PM of the KRG, told Turkey’s Ambassador to Iraq Fatih Yildiz on Saturday in Erbil that they have “concerns” over the latest victims following Turkish shelling in populated areas.
Barzani’s statement “raised concerns about victims caught in the crossfire of armed clashes in the border regions. He called for all sides to respect the territorial integrity of the Kurdistan Region”
When Islamic State (ISIS) extremists controlled about one third of Iraq in 2014, the PKK came down from the mountains, entering Shingal and some other areas claiming to have descended to “save” Yezidis.
However, the PKK and their affiliates still control some parts of Shingal (Sinjar). This has concerned Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists on Sunday in Istanbul that the PKK has “tried to create an alternative for Qandil in Sinjar,” Turkey’s Daily Sabah reported on Sunday.
An Iraqi delegation consisting of the foreign minister, the defense minister and the head of national intelligence was in Ankara on June 10. The details of the meeting were not disclosed.
Ambassador Yildiz told journalists in Iraq’s Nineveh Province on Sunday that both sides discussed the PKK.
He announced that Erdogan will visit Iraq by the end of the year, hoping there will be “better” cooperation between both countries by then.
Both sides have been locked in a four decade-long, often armed conflict, resulting in the death of roughly 40,000 people, including civilians.
They reached a ceasefire deal in 2013 which lasted for more than two years, but deadly fighting soon resumed in Kurdish provinces in southeastern and eastern Turkey.
Some 4,472 people have been killed since the peace process fell apart on July 20, 2015, according to the most recent figures from the International Crisis Group (ICG).
The Turkish Interior Ministry announced the death of three of their soldiers in a fight against the PKK inside Turkey.
“In the framework of internal security operations, in rural areas of Hakkari [province] lolan jandermie forces conducted an operation today, three terrorists were neutralized alongside their weapons,” read the statement on Sunday.
Turkey’s regular strikes and the presence of PKK fighters in Kurdistan Region have concerned the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iraqi federal government.
Four civilians were killed in late June at the foot of Qandil Mountains, where PKK headquarters is located near the international borders with Turkey and Iran.
Masrour Barzani, the new PM of the KRG, told Turkey’s Ambassador to Iraq Fatih Yildiz on Saturday in Erbil that they have “concerns” over the latest victims following Turkish shelling in populated areas.
Barzani’s statement “raised concerns about victims caught in the crossfire of armed clashes in the border regions. He called for all sides to respect the territorial integrity of the Kurdistan Region”
Shingal, a PKK alternative to Qandil: President Erdogan
When Islamic State (ISIS) extremists controlled about one third of Iraq in 2014, the PKK came down from the mountains, entering Shingal and some other areas claiming to have descended to “save” Yezidis.
However, the PKK and their affiliates still control some parts of Shingal (Sinjar). This has concerned Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists on Sunday in Istanbul that the PKK has “tried to create an alternative for Qandil in Sinjar,” Turkey’s Daily Sabah reported on Sunday.
An Iraqi delegation consisting of the foreign minister, the defense minister and the head of national intelligence was in Ankara on June 10. The details of the meeting were not disclosed.
Ambassador Yildiz told journalists in Iraq’s Nineveh Province on Sunday that both sides discussed the PKK.
“There have been meetings between both Baghdad and Ankara on the subject for a long time,” he said, adding they talked about skirmishes with the PKK in Shingal, Makhmour and elsewhere in the Kurdistan Region.
He announced that Erdogan will visit Iraq by the end of the year, hoping there will be “better” cooperation between both countries by then.
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