Turkey’s airstrikes in northern Iraq

Turkish air strikes in northern Iraq have killed a Kurdish shepherd, the first known civilian victim of Ankara‘s air and ground assault on the region targeting Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters.

On Wednesday, Turkey launched a cross-border operation into the mountainous terrain of northern Iraq where the PKK has bases.

Ankara considers the PKK a “terrorist” organisation because of its decades-long uprising against the Turkish state.

The Turkish government maintains that Turkish warplanes and raids targeted the PKK, which Ankara says has been in response to an increase in rebel attacks on Turkish army bases.

Turkey has sporadically bombed PKK hideouts in northern Iraq but its new operation, dubbed “Claw-Tiger,” is a dramatic escalation and has prompted scores of families in the area to flee, according to local activists.

Iraq’s foreign ministry has summoned Turkish ambassador Fatih Yildiz twice this week, demanding Ankara withdraw its special forces and halt the bombing campaign.

Iraqi government has repeatedly called on Turkey to stop its operations “immediately”, considering it a “violation of sovereignty” as it summoned the Turkish ambassador and delivered two memoranda of protest, but those calls were met with outright rejection by Ankara, which it says is “defending itself from the attacks of PKK elements.”

Source: “Rudaw”