The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have closed the security loop in northern Iraq’s Zap region where the PKK terrorist group had a bastion, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler announced Tuesday.
“Türkiye continues to take every measure and retaliate in fold to attempts to attack its troops in northern Iraq and Syria and most recently closed the loop in Zap,” Güler told a parliamentary budget committee, referring to Operation Claw-Lock.
“Our operations in the region will continue with the same pace and determination,” he said, adding that every measure is taken to prevent any civilian deaths.
Ankara Launched Operation Claw-Lock in April 2022 to target PKK hideouts in Iraq’s northern Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions near the Turkish border. It was preceded by two operations – Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle – launched in 2020.
Güler, earlier this summer, had said the operation would be finalized before the winter to sever the ties between the PKK’s leaders in Iraq’s Qandil region and Syria.
The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, Britain and the European Union – is responsible for over 40,000 civilian and security personnel deaths in Türkiye during an almost four-decadelong campaign of terror aimed at establishing a so-called Kurdish self-rule.
PKK violence was initially raging in rural regions of southeastern Türkiye, but the terrorists have moved a large chunk of operations to a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq after successive Turkish operations. The central Iraqi administration has very little influence there, and it is under the de-jure control of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).
The terrorist group occupies a large number of villages in the region from where it launches attacks on Türkiye. It operates a local offshoot in northern Syria, the YPG, which collaborates with the U.S. under the pretext of driving out Daesh remnants in the region.
Ankara maintains dozens of military bases in Iraq and regularly targets the PKK.
“A total of 2,564 terrorists have been eliminated in Turkish operations since the start of the year,” Güler noted.
Türkiye has long been stressing that it will not tolerate terrorist threats against its national security and has called on Iraqi officials to take the necessary steps to eliminate the terrorist group.
Until recently, Iraq has said the operations violate its sovereignty, but Ankara says it is protecting its borders where it intends to establish a 30-40 kilometer (19-25 mile) security corridor.
In August, the neighbors agreed to military cooperation, namely joint training and operation centers, against the terrorists, months after Baghdad declared the PKK a banned organization.
Türkiye, however, wants Iraq to recognize the PKK as a terrorist group fully.
The terrorists most recently launched an attack on the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) headquarters in Ankara, which killed five people and injured 22 others on Oct. 23.
Güler praised the recent progress made with Baghdad in the fight against the PKK and said concrete steps are being taken in line with their memorandum of agreement.
“We’re also in close coordination with both regional and central government to restore peace in northern Iraq,” Güler said.
Aegean peace
Güler assured the parliamentary budget committee his office was working to help solve Türkiye’s long-standing problems with neighboring Greece.
“Türkiye has displayed a peaceful attitude on this issue since the start and maintains its goodwill to ensure the Aegean Sea remains a sea of peace,” Güler said.
Neighbors Greece and Türkiye, both NATO allies but historic foes, have long been at odds over issues including where their continental shelves start and end, energy resources, migration, flights over the Aegean Sea and the ethnically partitioned island of Cyprus.
Güler praised “significantly reduced” tensions in the region thanks to the efforts of Turkish and Greek leaders.
The historic rivals agreed last year to reboot their relations, pledging to keep open communication channels and work on the issues that have kept them apart.
Top Turkish and Greek diplomats met in Athens earlier this month to explore whether there is room for resolving the maritime dispute, which has been largely frozen for long years since neither side is willing to budge on their terms.
Türkiye, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, rejects the maritime boundary claims of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, arguing their excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of both Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriots in the region.
Athens acknowledges the difference in opinion on the maritime crisis but says Greece is “determined to narrow the gap as much as possible.”
The next round of Greece-Türkiye talks will take place in Athens on Dec. 2-3 and a high-level cooperation council meeting is planned for early 2025 in Ankara.