Türkiye has eliminated a total of 17 PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Iraq and Syria, the Defense Ministry said Monday, amid rumors that a wider summer offensive against the terrorist group is already underway.
The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have targeted 14 PKK terrorists in the northern Iraqi regions of Metina and Gara, and three YPG terrorists in northern Syria where Operation Peace Spring took place in 2019, the ministry said in a statement.
Ankara has ramped up its cross-border operations in recent months against the PKK and its Syrian offshoot, the YPG.
The PKK is known for using northern Iraq, near the Turkish border, as a hideout to plot terrorist attacks and launch attacks both on nearby Türkiye and locals in northern Syria.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who signaled months ago that they were considering more operations against the terrorists this summer, announced on Saturday the imminent end of his government’s operations in northern Iraq and Syria.
"We will very soon complete the lockdown of the area of operation in northern Iraq," Erdoğan said, adding that PKK terrorists were now "incapable of acting inside our borders."
Erdoğan said that the PKK had been "completely trapped" in both Iraq and Syria, telling young military academy graduates that Turkish forces were "all over them."
"We will complete the missing points of the security corridor along our southern border with Syria."
The aim is to rid the region of PKK/YPG, close the security loop along the Turkish border, and sever the ties between the group’s leaders in Iraq’s Qandil region and Syria.
Unconfirmed reports say the Turkish army is already advancing along a road connecting Iraq to Syria and has occasionally carried out operations since last month. Airstrikes have also targeted Mount Gara, where PKK members have a major hideout.
The PKK is not designated a terrorist organization in Iraq but is banned from launching operations against Türkiye from Iraqi territory. It nevertheless has a foothold in northern Iraq's semi-autonomous north controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), where the central Iraqi government has little influence.
Since Turkish operations have driven its domestic presence to near extinction, the PKK has moved a large chunk of its operations to northern Iraq, including a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains, located roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border in Irbil.
Türkiye has, over the past 25 years, operated several dozen military bases in northern Iraq in its war against the PKK and has been conducting airstrikes as part of its “Claw” operations since 2022 to demolish terrorist lairs and prevent the formation of a terrorist corridor along its borders.
