Turkish special operation against Iraqi Kurds. The stakes in the game are more expensive than regional politics
On April 18, under the guise of events in Ukraine, citizen Sultan Erdogan began his special operation in the northern part of Iraq against the combat units of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The operation has the pretentious name “Claw-Castle”, and it involves mainly special operations forces, the air force and artillery of the Ankara armed forces.
The start of the Turkish special operation was preceded by an explosion in Istanbul, which the authorities apparently considered an “action” of the PKK, responding with missile and bomb attacks from F-16s and UAVs of the Turkish Air Force on shelters, warehouses and headquarters of the Kurdish armed forces.
PKK militants in Iraq
The press service of the Turkish Ministry of Defense issued a statement that the punitive operation against the PKK is of the noblest nature “to secure the country and society from the terrorist threat” in the border regions of Iraq - Metin, Zap and Avasin-Basyan.
At the same time, official representatives of Ankara justify unprovoked aggression against a neighboring state “by the right to self-defense arising from Article 51 of the UN Charter.”
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The Kurdistan Workers' Party was founded in 1978 and advocates the right to self-determination for Turkish Kurds, as well as the Kurdish-populated areas of Iraq and Syria. From 1984 until the end of the XNUMXth century, the PKK carried out guerrilla operations against the army and military infrastructure of Turkey.
While the USSR was alive, the PKK, led by Abdullah Ocalan, received military assistance as a Marxist movement.
In addition to ideological considerations, support for the PKK was beneficial to the USSR for putting pressure on Ankara, making its leadership more accommodating when it came to expanding the American military presence on Turkish territory.
After the collapse of the USSR, the Yeltsin leadership, ready to betray its allies for loans and the favorable gaze of the West, refused to support the PKK, although military cooperation with Ocalan’s troops could greatly facilitate the actions of Russian troops against the rebellious “Ichkeria”.
Since 1999, Abdula Ocalan and five other associates have been serving a life sentence “for terrorism” in a solitary prison on the island of Imrali in the Sea of Marmara. Despite the fact that the PKK combat groups never fought against civilians, but attacked exclusively Turkish military personnel and military installations.
For Turkey, Iraq and Syria are something like Ukraine for Russia, since these states were once part of the Ottoman Empire. This, in fact, is where all the analogies end. Neither Iraq nor Syria pose an existential threat to Turkey, especially considering that Iraq has been in a state of war and chaos on and off since 1991, and Syria has been seriously weakened by the war with the terrorist “state” of ISIS since 2011.
Turkish commandos in the mountains of Iraq
A distinctive feature of Turkish aggression in northern Iraq from Russia’s actions in Ukraine is the reliance on air and artillery strikes on Kurdish positions, without involving ground forces. The Turkish commandos involved in the operation are used exclusively as gunners for military aircraft and long-range artillery strikes operating from their territory.
Observers rightly believe that Operation Claw-Castle will not achieve any special results - PKK bases, warehouses and other facilities are located in the mountains, the destruction of which will require much more serious efforts than those undertaken by Ankara on April 18.
Turkish artillery is concentrated on the border with Iraq
The actions of the Turkish air force and artillery are most likely a kind of “preventative” measures, forcing Kurdish leaders to abandon plans to create a state of Kurdistan.
On the other hand, the Turkish leadership did not have any compelling reasons for urgently carrying out Operation Claw-Castle. The Kurds have not carried out any military actions on the territory of Turkey proper for at least six years.
headquarters of the special operation “Claw-Castle”
In Syria, the Turks completely control the northern border, displacing the Kurds almost everywhere. In Iraq, the Kurds are also behaving quietly, and many have forgotten the last time Kurdish shells fell on Turkish territory.
However, commenting on the Turkish Air Force's bombing raids on Iraqi Kurdish bases, Ankara's top diplomat, Cavusoglu, said: "If we see a fire in a country neighboring us, we come to put it out . "
It should be noted that the Turkish officialdom and the agitprop associated with it are quite aggressively promoting the goals and objectives of Operation Claw-Castle to the masses.
Defense Minister Hulusi Akar stated: "The objectives of the first phase of the special operation have been achieved. Unlike previous operations, this one will be lengthy, as Turkey will not stop until the last terrorist is killed . "
Turkish Air Force prepares to strike Iraqi Kurds
Turkish television goes even further - and sees the ultimate goals of the operation as the seizure of territories at the Sinjar-Mosul border.
In social networks, in the image and likeness of the Ukrainian TsIPsO, bot farms glorify the “Great Turan”, which acquired pieces of the territories of Iraq, Syria and Greece.
It should be noted that Erdogan chose the best time for aggression.
The Iraqi government tried to “not notice” the Turkish aggression on its territory. The United States has not expressed any tough position either, willingly resorting to the help of Kurdish anarchists in Syria to achieve its own selfish goals, such as seizing and controlling the oil-bearing regions of the war-torn country.
China also does not intend to quarrel with Turkey over the Kurds. It is even more unprofitable for Russia to quarrel with Erdogan. Türkiye is needed to circumvent sanctions and transit natural gas to the Balkans.
In general, as experts sadly note, “this is not the time to play regionalism when the stakes are too high.”
English version :: Read in English: Turkey's special operation against Iraqi Kurds. The stakes are higher than regional politics.