Turkey announced on Wednesday (June 17th) the deployment of special forces to northern Iraq as part of a ground operation against rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) supported by its aviation and artillery.
"Operation 'Claws of the Tiger' has started. Our special forces heroes are in Haftanin," said Hulusi Akar, the Turkish Defense Ministry, on Twitter, without specifying the number of soldiers deployed.
# Pençe-Kaplan Operasyonu başladı.
Kahraman Komandolarımız Haftanin'de! 🇹🇷
"Our commandos, which are supported by combat helicopters and drones, have been transported by our air forces," he added.
The Turkish Defense Ministry justified the launch of the operation by the "recent upsurge in attacks on our police stations and our military bases" located near the Iraqi border. He added that the military deployment had been preceded by intense artillery bombardment.
Ankara strikes in northern Iraq
The operation is likely to create friction between Ankara and Baghdad, which on Tuesday summoned the Turkish ambassador to protest against strikes carried out by Turkish aviation on PKK positions in Iraq this week.
Turkey had, in fact, announced that it had carried out, on the night of Sunday to Monday, strikes in Kandil, Sinjar and Hakurk, localities of the north of Iraq.
Ankara regularly conducts air raids against the rear bases of the PKK in this neighboring country. The PKK, which has been carrying out bloody guerrilla warfare on Turkish soil since 1984, has been called a "terrorist" group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
With AFP
The France 24 week summary invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribeTake international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 app
google-play-badge_FR