Another conflict is brewing in the Middle East. In the fight against the Kurdish terrorist militia PKK, Turkish armed forces repeatedly attack Iraqi territory. Ankara’s ambassador has now been summoned to the president in Baghdad. Turkish drones apparently also hit Iraqi counter-terrorism units.
The communist-separatist Kurdish militia PKK has been operating in Kurdish-populated areas of Turkey for decades and has repeatedly used Kurdish areas of Iraq and Syria as a point of retreat. As a result, the Turkish military has been conducting military operations in neighboring countries for years without obtaining permission from the respective governments. For this reason diplomatic conflicts arise again and again.
This is the case now, after a Turkish drone killed six people during an attack in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq on September 18. According to a report, these also included members of the Iraqi Anti-Terrorism Service. The Iraqi President then called the Turkish Ambassador to give a written note of protest.
Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid said in a statement, “Day by day, systematic military attacks on Iraqi territory, especially the Kurdish region, are increasing without any military or security justification.” “The aggression was directed against innocent civilians as well as military and security headquarters,” he said. Rashid belongs to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a political party based in Sulaymaniyah, where the attacks were carried out. Peshmerga troops allied with the PUK ensure security in the area.
Even though the Iraqi government does not support the independence efforts of Kurdish forces, Turkey’s military operations on its territory represent a violation of national sovereignty. But Iraq also cannot afford an open war with a heavily armed NATO member.
