Türkiye on Wednesday protested the growing alliance between the PKK terrorist group and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the dominant parties in the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Sulaymaniyah region in northwestern Iraq.
“Reports show (PUK’s Bafal Talabani), unfortunately, continues to advance their relations with the PKK, something the Iraqi government is also bothered by, despite the numerous talks President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and myself held with them,” Defense Minister Yaşar Güler told Turkish broadcaster Habertürk.
“It is unacceptable that a third group is trying to get closer to a terrorist organization while Türkiye has a close relationship with the Iraqi government and works to rid the country of the PKK,” Güler argued.
“Iraq is suffering as much as we are from these people,” he said. “We wish that Talabani would cut off ties with the terrorist group at once. I believe being friends with Türkiye and his own country is the best move forward.”
The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.
The conflict was long fought mainly in rural areas of southeastern Türkiye but is now more focused on the Qandil Mountains, located roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border in the KRG capital of Irbil.
The PKK has also stepped up its attacks against Iraqi targets recently. Baghdad announced last month that PKK members were behind a string of arsons in the country, including those concentrated in areas controlled by the KRG.
Türkiye's cross-border operations into northern Iraq have been a source of tension with its southeastern neighbor for years.
Ankara has asked Iraq for more cooperation in combating the PKK, and Baghdad has banned the group from operating in the country, ordered all state institutions to refer to PKK as a banned group in official correspondence and set up two military bases in the Zakho region in April, which borders southern Türkiye.
Earlier this month, Baghdad also dissolved three political parties connected to the PKK and ordered the confiscation of the parties’ assets.
Güler described the recent developments in the joint fight against the PKK as “positive” and “on track as planned.”
Iraqi officials will be in Ankara on Thursday to meet with Güler, as well as Fidan and intelligence director Ibrahim Kalın. Since the start of the year, Ankara has hinted at a final summer offensive against the PKK in both northern Iraq and Syria.
“We will assemble for a daylong meeting and continue making every effort to develop Turkish-Iraqi relations,” Güler assured.
On his recent remarks that the ongoing Operation Claw-Lock, launched in April 2022, would be completed before the winter to sever the ties between Qandil and Syria, Güler said, “We lead our operations at a pace the terror group cannot predict or react to.”
“There’s only one thing PKK ringleaders can do; it is to surrender to Turkish justice,” he added.
The PKK operates with its local offshoot, the YPG, in northern Syria, which it has occupied since 2015 with the help of the United States.
Washington calls the YPG its ally under the pretext of driving out remaining Daesh terrorists and frequently sends reinforcements to the terrorists. Ankara says it is “senseless” to use a terrorist group to fight another and the issue strains Turkish-U.S. ties.
Last November, reports surfaced that the U.S. would give short and mid-range aerial defense systems to the PKK/YPG.
Using the acronym for the PKK/YPG’s "political" wing, Güler stressed that there is “no such a thing as PYD, it is the PKK itself.”
“Our friends tell us they need the YPG to fight Daesh. We have clearly told our U.S. friends if they want to truly fight Daesh, Türkiye will provide them with whatever force they need but they don’t have a reply to that,” Güler said.
He argued that the air defense systems were not meant for the PKK/YPG but to protect U.S. bases from Iranian militants’ missiles.
“But we hear the U.S. is training PYD members there, which is unacceptable. We are forced to think the U.S. will leave these systems to the YPG when withdrawing from the region in the future,” Güler said.
Earlier this month, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported U.S. forces transferred some 700 PKK/YPG terrorists to a base near the Euphrates, which sits close to where pro-Iranian militias are deployed.
Separately, Güler’s office on Thursday announced that Turkish security forces have eliminated 73 PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Iraq and Syria in the past week, bringing this year’s toll to 1,725.
"With our unwavering and resolute strategy to eradicate terrorism at its source, including in northern Iraq and Syria, 73 terrorists have been neutralized in the past week," ministry spokesperson Zeki Aktürk said at a weekly press briefing.
Since the beginning of 2023, 845 terrorists were eliminated in Iraq and 880 were eliminated in Syria, Aktürk said.
He also informed that 529 individuals attempting illegal border crossings were captured last week. Additionally, 1,383 individuals were prevented from crossing, including 11 members of terrorist organizations.
Since Jan. 1, 2024, authorities have captured 8,336 individuals attempting illegal crossings and prevented 69,331 from crossing. Notably, one PKK terrorist from northern Iraq surrendered to Türkiye's border post in Habur last week.
