Erdogan Announces Turkish Military Operation in Sinjar; Iraq Denies

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, announced on Sunday, March 25, that Ankara has launched an operation in the Kurdish region of Sinjar in northern Iraq. Erdogan stated, "We said we are going to Sinjar. The operation has now begun there. This is an internal and external war." However, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command denied the crossing of foreign forces into the country. The Joint Operations Command issued a statement saying, "The Joint Command confirms that the situation in Nineveh, Sinjar, and border areas is under the control of Iraqi security forces, and there is no reason for foreign forces to cross the border into these areas." Local sources in Sinjar told Reuters that there was no significant military movement observed in the area on Sunday. Last week, Erdogan had stated that PKK militants had established a new base in Sinjar and warned that Turkey would attack the area if necessary. The Turkish President warned that if the PKK does not evacuate Sinjar and the Qandil Mountains, Turkey will forcibly remove them from these areas. Reuters reported on Friday, citing its sources in northern Iraq, that PKK forces are withdrawing from Sinjar. The PKK militants had come to aid the Yazidi minority in Sinjar from ISIS control in 2014 with the help of Iraqi Kurdish forces. Turkey considers the PKK a terrorist group. The Turkish army and its allied Syrian rebels captured the Afrin region in Syria earlier this month. Afrin was previously under the control of the People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers a branch of the PKK. Erdogan also mentioned on Sunday that Turkey will take control of Tal Rifaat in Aleppo province, Syria. Many YPG forces and civilians have moved to Tal Rifaat after the evacuation of Afrin. The United Nations announced last week that 75,000 people have fled from Afrin to Tal Rifaat and its surroundings.