Kurdistan Region – Turkey’s defense ministry on Saturday announced that six more soldiers were killed in clashes with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region, bringing the death toll to 12 Turkish soldiers killed within 24 hours.
Skirmishes on Saturday broke out after PKK fighters tried to infiltrate a base of the Turkish army in what Turkey calls the Operation Claw-Lock region, which encompasses Metina, Zap, Avashin, and Basyan areas in northern Duhok province, according to a statement from the Turkish ministry.
Six Turkish soldiers were killed, one was injured, and 13 PKK members were “neutralized” in the clash. Turkey uses the term “neutralize” to denote adversaries captured, wounded, or killed.
The Turkish air force conducted airstrikes in northern Iraq and Syria on Saturday and destroyed 29 targets of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) after 12 soldiers were killed in the past two days in northern Iraq, the defense ministry said Saturday.
The operations were conducted in northern Iraq and Syria at 10 p.m. local time and the targets hit included bases, shelters, and oil facilities believed to be used by PKK militants, the ministry said.
It did not say which regions of northern Iraq and Syria it struck.
Ankara had claimed throughout 2023 that the military threat from PKK had been almost completely eliminated with the terror organization’s headquarters in Qandil Mountains abutting Iraq-Iranian border almost vacant. As such, anti-terror operations had been shifted to North East Syria, where PKK had infiltrated Syrian Kurdish entity PYD/YPG.
Thus, the renewed clashes with unusually high casualty count is a new development in the decades long conflict, which raises several questions. First, had PKK returned to Northern Iraq, perhaps encouraged by the growing power struggles in the country. If so, had it recruited a sufficient number of new militants to pose a threat to Turkish security.
Alternatively, Erdogan may have ordered the military to attack any PKK target in hopes of revitalizing the anti-terror sentiment in the nation, which would prove useful as a propaganda tool in end-March 2024 municipal elections.
Finally, is it possible that the deepening crackdown on Kurds in Turkey at large rejuvenating interest in joining the militant cadres of PKK?
PA Turkey needs to see whether further skirmishes takes place in the coming days to provide a full assessment of the security threat. Yet, the past serves as a frightening reminder: Whenever the level of intensity of the conflict rises, PKK responds with terror attacks on civilian targets.
Rudaw, VoA, Cumhuriyet, PA Turkey
Follow our English language YouTube videos @ REAL TURKEY: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKpFJB4GFiNkhmpVZQ_d9Rg
And content at Twitter: @AtillaEng
Facebook: Real Turkey Channel: https://www.facebook.com/realturkeychannel/