Turkey launches strikes targeting Kurds in response to soldiers' deaths in Iraq

Turkey announced on Monday that its air forces "neutralized" 26 Kurdish militants in strikes in Syria and Iraq in response to the killing of soldiers earlier in the week. Authorities also arrested dozens of opposition leaders supporting the Kurds.

The defense ministry stated on Saturday that 12 Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes with the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, prompting Ankara to carry out a series of airstrikes and operations in the region.

On Monday, it reported that the initial results indicated that the strikes "neutralized" at least 26 militants. Turkey typically uses the term "neutralized" to mean killed.

Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler stated on Sunday that operations carried out by Turkey in the northern Iraq region had neutralized 30 PKK fighters, bringing the total number of militants killed since the beginning of the week to 56.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party, classified as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. Turkish forces have regularly conducted airstrikes in neighboring Iraq as part of their campaign against PKK fighters based there.

Security sources on Monday reported that the police also arrested 52 individuals from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), a pro-Kurdish opposition party, during a youth wing meeting in the Diyarbakir region in the southeast of the country.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc stated on X that the suspects were accused of "glorifying crime and criminals... and disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization." He added that arrest orders were issued for others.

In response, the Peoples' Democratic Party, the third-largest party in parliament, described the arrests as politically motivated and called for the immediate release of its members.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya later stated that authorities had initiated investigations into 57 social media accounts accused of spreading content against the Turkish armed forces. He added that four individuals were arrested as part of the operation.

Yerlikaya stated on X that "those trying to sow the seeds of discord among our people, praising terrorism, and demeaning our national and moral values will remain subject to accountability under the law."

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government have consistently accused the pro-Kurdish opposition party of having ties to the PKK and have arrested dozens of its officials in recent years. The party denies allegations of connections to militants.

Reuters