Turkey has launched a major joint air and ground operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, in what analysts see as an escalation of its campaign against the decades-old insurgency. The operation, codenamed Claw-Tiger, began in the early hours of Wednesday, with special forces airlifted and deployed overland to the Haftanin border region.
The Turkish defence ministry said the offensive targeted 150 suspected positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), supported by jets, helicopters, drones and artillery. It follows Operation Claw-Eagle, a bombing campaign on Monday that struck 81 PKK installations across the region, including in Sinjar and the Qandil mountains. Despite the scale of the operations, no civilian or combatant casualties have been reported.
The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the EU and the US, took up arms in the 1980s for an independent Kurdish state, later shifting to demands for Kurdish rights and autonomy. Peace talks between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and PKK leaders collapsed in 2015, leading to renewed violence in south-east Turkey. Ankara has faced criticism for civilian deaths in cross-border bombing campaigns.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which has strong trade ties with Turkey and a strained relationship with the PKK, remained silent on the operation. However, the Arab League and the Iraqi federal government condemned the incursion, summoning Turkey’s ambassador to remind him of Iraq’s “sanctity and sovereignty”. Meanwhile, Iranian artillery fire on PKK hideouts on Tuesday has prompted speculation of international coordination.
Inside Turkey, the government continues to crack down on Kurdish politicians and activists. A “justice and democracy” march organised by the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) was met with barricades, teargas and rubber bullets on Monday. According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, Turkish operations against the PKK have intensified this year, with 77% of engagements occurring in northern Iraq as Ankara seeks to push the conflict beyond its borders.
