Erdogan Escalates Turkish Military Campaign in Northern Iraq

Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman strategy is founded on the unfulfilled ambitions of the Ottoman Empire, while the Kurdish problem posing a formidable challenge to Turkey’s territorial integrity and national identity.

Turkish Kurds work in two distinct ways to achieve their long-held objective of establishing a Kurdish state: through the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

On the military front, Erdogan is trying to forcefully drive the PKK from the Turkish border regions all the way to the source of the danger, which is PKK-controlled strongholds deep inside Iraq’s northern territories.

As a result, in April 2020, Ankara launched a new operation as part of the “Tiger Claw” and “Eagle Claw” operations to eliminate 150 PKK hideouts.

While Iraq grapples with security concerns, ISIS’s sporadic attacks, and suicide bombings, the Turkish army appears to have no regard for Iraqi sovereignty, combating PKK militants within the Iraqi northern regions.

Over the last two years, under the guise of fighting the threat presented by the PKK guerrillas, Turkey has launched several operations in northern Iraq, captured significant swaths of Iraqi territory, and established several military facilities.

Turkish military operations in these regions have often resulted in large fires in border communities’ agricultural fields and orchards. Water has been cut off in many Kurdish villages in northern Iraq as a consequence of Turkish airstrikes, inflicting significant damage to infrastructure and basic services.

Tensions in the region and Turkish warplane bombing have forced hundreds of thousands of Kurdish and Christian citizens to flee their homes in search of safer havens, fearing impending confrontations between PKK militants and Turkish troops.

Despite Baghdad’s and political leaders’ frustration with Ankara’s operation, the Turkish army has continued to advance and undertake military operations in northern Iraq.

If the military campaign continues, various leaders of Iraqi political parties have vowed to confront Turkey, and the federal government in Baghdad has filed a complaint with the UN Security Council and warned to sever ties with Turkey if the military assaults continue.