Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the operation "locking the claw" launched by his country against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq "is taking place in accordance with international law," while Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said that the reasons that the Turks are talking about regarding the use of force inside Iraqi territory "are not enough."

Yesterday, Monday, the Turkish president said at a press conference in Ankara that the military operation his country is implementing in northern Iraq "is taking place in full accordance with international law, based on the Charter of the United Nations, and reaching bilateral agreements with its neighbors."

Erdogan added that his country "is keen that no civilian or any cultural heritage is harmed during the military operation," stressing that it has not been subjected to any such accusations to date.

President Erdoğan stressed that Turkey will continue its operations until it fully controls its southern borders, "so that no terrorist can infiltrate or escape from the country."

Turkey has launched a major cross-border military offensive targeting PKK militants in the northern part of Iraq.

Turkey says its warplanes bombed Kurdish militants in northern Iraq pic.twitter.com/ykCsEkzopI

- Dr.

Dark (@Dr_Daark) April 19, 2022

On April 18, Turkey launched Operation Claw Lock against PKK militants in the areas of Matina, Zab and Afshin-Basyan in northern Iraq.

Iraqi Foreign Minister

On the other hand, the Iraqi Foreign Minister said in an interview with Al-Jazeera that his country's security problems with Iran and Turkey must be resolved through dialogue, stressing that the problem of the presence of the PKK in Iraq is also an Iraqi problem.

Last Tuesday, Baghdad summoned the Turkish ambassador to it, and handed him a strongly worded protest note because of the Turkish military operation in northern Iraq, a day after the Turkish Ministry of Defense said that warplanes, a helicopter and other drones bombed targets of the Kurdistan Workers Party in northern Iraq, as part of an air and ground operation. Camps and ammunition stores were targeted.

The Iraqi government called on Ankara to withdraw all Turkish forces from Iraq.

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— Muqtada al-Sayyid Muhammad al-Sadr (@Mu_AlSadr) April 18, 2022

In response, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said last Thursday that it had delivered a diplomatic note to the Iraqi charge d'affaires in Ankara, accusing the Iraqi authorities of making "unfounded allegations" about the military operation.

Turkey launches frequent air strikes on the PKK in northern Iraq, which it classifies as a terrorist group, and Ankara has sent special forces to the region to support its attacks.

The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. More than 40,000 people died in the conflict, which was mainly concentrated in southeastern Turkey.