Turkish Interior Minister Announces Joint Operations with Iran Against Kurdish Groups

Anadolu, the Turkish state news agency, reported on Wednesday, March 6, quoting Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, that a joint operation with Iran against Kurdish rebel groups will be conducted. Soylu stated, "God willing, we will carry out a joint operation with Iran against the PKK." The PKK, the Kurdistan Workers' Party of Turkey, is considered a terrorist group by Ankara and Western countries. Soylu did not specify which PKK bases would be targeted, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously announced that the aim of these attacks would be the group's shelters in northern Iraq. The Turkish military and security forces have been engaged in combat with PKK militants since the mid-1980s, and Iranian military forces are also fighting against the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), which is affiliated with the PKK, on Iranian soil. Both groups have bases in Iraq. In 2017, Erdogan stated that joint operations with Iran against Kurdish militants "are always on the agenda." He added that military commanders from both countries have discussed how to combat Kurdish rebels. However, at that time, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps denied this matter. The PKK's goal in the past was the independence of Kurdish regions, but in recent years its aim has shifted to gaining autonomy. Over several decades of conflict between this group and Turkish state forces, tens of thousands have been killed. The Turkish army has frequently bombed the group's bases in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq. Despite supporting rival forces in the Syrian civil war, Iran and Turkey have been able to reach agreements on some actions to find a political solution to this war in recent years. Source: AFP.