While the United States strongly condemns the ongoing series of Iranian moves opposing Kurdish rivals in northern Iraq, Washington has also expressed fear of a separate Turkish crusade opposing Kurdish forces in the same region.
Following the fourth and final circular of movements opposed to targets related to Kurdish dissident teams in exile, such as the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) and the Kurdistan Freedom Party (KAP), the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The commander of the armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Pakpur praised the effects of the strikes on “around 40 targets with more than 70 missiles and dozens of suicide drones, with 99% accuracy” in some areas, Iran’s Labour News Agency reported.
He called the Revolutionary Guards’ missile and drone operation “the heaviest” to date, and reiterated the elite force’s warning that “our operations will continue until the separatist teams are disarmed. “
The Iranian crusade has drawn complaints only from Iraq’s Kurdish regional capital, Erbil, and the national capital of Baghdad, but also from Washington, where State Department spokesman Ned Price and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said they “strongly condemn” what they called an attack on Iraq’s sovereignty.
But while Iran’s high-profile moves have attracted foreign attention, U. S. -allied Turkey has waged its own cross-border campaign, targeting the positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.
“We have expressed our considerations on Turkish operations in Iraq,” a State Department spokesperson told Newsweek, “urging the Turkish government to coordinate more with the Iraqi government in cross-border military operations against terrorist targets. “
But while the US, like Iran, Turkey and several regional and global countries, see the PKK as a terrorist group, Washington has given the same label to the parties that are lately being attacked through Iran.
“The United States has designated the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist,” the spokesman said. “We have designated the Komalah Party of Iranian Kurdistan, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) or the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) as terrorist entities. “
Komala, KDPI and PAK have a long history of guerrilla warfare against the Islamic Republic, and Iran has accused them of years of attacks on security personnel. More recently, Tehran accused those teams of helping fuel nationwide protests in reaction to the death of Mahsa Aminia, an Iranian woman who died last month while in police custody. Pakpur and other Iranian officials said Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdish government had not done enough to combat their presence, and accused the United States of supporting those organizations.
The PKK, for its part, has waged a nearly four-decade insurgency against Turkey, which has stepped up its operations in recent years in Iraq and Syria. Ankara has also chosen to take matters into its own hands, with the Turkish Defense Ministry targeting the PKK’s positions in Iraq in a series of campaigns, the latest of which was presented in April as Operation Claw-Lock.
The attacks were announced alongside ongoing Iranian operations, with the most recent being officially announced on Monday.
“Our fight will continue with perseverance and determination until the last terrorist is neutralized!” Turkey’s Defense Ministry tweeted Monday, accompanied by photographs of what appeared to be a Bayraktar TB2 drone dropping munitions.
A few days earlier, on Friday, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar praised Ankara’s ongoing campaign, which he said had stretched nearly 90 miles into Iraqi territory.
“Wherever the terrorist is, that’s where our goal is,” Akar said on a stopover in the southeastern Turkish town of Şırnak near the Syrian border, where he also praised Turkish efforts against the PKK.
While the United States has partnered with Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in both countries to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group, Turkey has criticized the Pentagon’s partnership in Syria, where Ankara blamed the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and its affiliated People’s Party. Protection Units (YPG) have direct links with the PKK.
Conflicting interests have created tensions between two NATO allies, and in his speech, Akar claimed that a recent deadly PKK pistol attack in southern Turkey was a “US-based action. “He did not specify the direct link with the United States, Turkish officials said. They have long denounced Washington’s indirect links to the PKK through the anti-ISIS crusade in Iraq and Syria.
In addition to the Turkish attack in Iraq announced on Monday, the Turkish Defense Ministry also said it had killed “7 PKK/YPG terrorists,” adding a “so-called top cadre,” which was preparing to strike in the Turkey area. Operation Euphrates Shield in northern Syria. It was accompanied by photographs of Turkish artillery and drone strikes.
On the same day, the U. S. Department of State’s Office of Inspector General was held in the U. S. Department of State. The U. S. released its comprehensive emergency operations oversight plan for fiscal year 2023, which included complaints about Turkish activities in Iraq and Syria.
The report says Turkish strikes in northern Syria are among those that “divert the coalition-aligned Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from anti-IS operations and jeopardize security in detention centers and camps housing ISIS affiliates. “
“In addition,” he adds, “the ongoing confrontation between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has contributed to instability in northern Iraq. “
The governments of Iraq and Syria have criticized the Turkish military’s operations in their respective countries.
Baghdad and Erbil recently spoke out against Turkey’s moves following a disputed attack in July that killed nine other people at a hotel near the northern Iraqi city of Zakho. Ankara denied any involvement in the incident and blamed the PKK, while Washington condemned the attack. however, it did not attribute responsibility.
As tensions continued to boil on Monday, which marked Iraq’s National Day, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi traveled to Erbil to meet with Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani.
In addition to discussing the need for further discussion between Baghdad and Erbil, the two men “focused on the fact that the blood and life of Iraqis, and the preservation of the budget and public and personal property, is a purpose and an objective, at the same time. “while stressing that all are obliged to cooperate with the security forces and facilitate the performance of their duties; maintain the security and stability of Iraq,” according to statements issued through the two offices.
They also “discussed recent advances in security and the selection of spaces in the Kurdistan Region, and the desire to respect Iraqi sovereignty, refuse to make Iraq a stage for settling regional scores, and affirm the commitment of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region to smart neighborly relations. “and that Iraqi lands are not a source of risk for neighboring countries. “
Newsweek has reached out to the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D. C. for comment.
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