Turkey Claims to Have Killed 17 Kurdish Fighters in Northern Iraq and Syria

On Friday, May 10, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced that it had killed 17 Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq and Syria. The official account of the ministry stated in a post on social media platform X that 10 members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were killed in the Gara and Hakurk regions of northern Iraq. The Turkish Ministry of Defense also added that seven other Kurdish fighters were killed in northern Syria. Turkey's cross-border attacks into Iraq have caused tensions between the two neighbors, with Ankara seeking Baghdad's cooperation in its fight against the PKK. During his recent visit to Baghdad and Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held discussions with Iraqi and Kurdish officials regarding the continued presence of the PKK in northern Iraq. In recent years, Turkey has repeatedly attacked infrastructure in Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria, claiming that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by Kurds, are the Syrian branch of the PKK. The SDF, which is the main ally of the United States in the fight against ISIS in Syria, has rejected Turkey's claims. Current and former U.S. administrations have stated that the SDF and the PKK are not the same. Erdoğan and some of his ministers have repeatedly stated their efforts to improve relations with Bashar al-Assad's government, but they will continue military operations in more parts of northern Syria to 'push the SDF away from the border areas.' The PKK was founded in 1979 by a group of mainly Kurdish students and began its armed activities in 1984, claiming to seek rights for Kurds in Turkey. In the violent conflicts between the Turkish army and the PKK over the past four decades, more than 40,000 Turkish citizens, mainly Kurds, have been killed, and hundreds of thousands have been forced to relocate from predominantly Kurdish areas in eastern and southeastern Turkey to other regions of the country and other parts of the world. The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkey, and the European Union. Turkey claims to have killed 32 PKK members in northern Iraq and continues its attacks on Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria. Turkey: We have 'neutralized' 29 militants in Syria and northern Iraq. Turkey claims to have targeted 70 PKK-related bases in Syria and Iraq. The Turkish army: We have 'neutralized' 26 militants in retaliatory attacks in Syria and Iraq. Turkish warplanes targeted PKK positions in northern Iraq. A drone attack in Syria left dozens dead and wounded. Turkey's assault on PKK positions in northern Iraq; 20 people were arrested in Istanbul and several other cities.