Turkey has launched a major military surge against the terrorist Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, where Ankara has already set up 11 regional bases and doubled its military footprint, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim declared over the weekend.
The semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government controls most of northern Iraq, including the Qandil Mountains, believed to be the PKK’s main stronghold.
Now, it appears Turkey is preparing to launch a major offensive against the PKK fighters, considered to be terrorists by Ankara and Washington.
The Turkish prime minister proclaimed that the objective of the military operations in northern Iraq is to “eliminate the terrorist threat of the PKK before it reaches the border,”Hurriyet Daily News reports.
“We have doubled our [military] presence in northern Iraq,” he added without providing a specific number. “We have 11 regional bases there.”
Turkey has long justified its military presence in Iraq as a preventive measure against the PKK.
The PKK maintains a significant stronghold in northern Iraq’s Qandil mountains, located near the Iran border. READ MORE
