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Escalation of Turkey operations feared

DUBAI: Turkey is continuing its military operations across the Iraqi border in a bid to dislodge fighters belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) from their mountain strongholds.

Al Jazeera television is reporting that Turkish forces have been heading towards the town of Goli. Earlier on Monday, Turkish artillery fired 40 salvos inside Iraqi territory. A day earlier, a Turkish helicopter crashed and eight soldiers were killed.

According to the Turkish military website, 15 Turkish troops have so far been killed and the PKK death toll has risen to 112. Amid fears that the conflict, which has entered its fifth day, might escalate, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that the military operations were not targeting Iraq or the people of northern Iraq, the majority of whom are Kurds. Rather, a combination of actions has been undertaken to “isolate the PKK from the society.”

Analysts point out that escalation in the conflict can take place if there is fighting between the Turkish troops and the Peshmerga units — the combatants loyal to the regional Kurdish authorities in Iraq.

According to media reports, there is 5 km of distance separating the combat zone and the area where the Peshmerga have been deployed. The head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Masoud Barzani, has warned that Turkey will face large-scale resistance if its forces target civilians during the course of their ground operations. Observers say that the conflict could also intensify if the PKK decides to launch covert attacks inside Turkey. The PKK spokesman Ahmed Danis has already warned, “If Turkey continues its attacks we will carry out guerilla operations in Turkish cities, trying to avoid the civilian population”.

“Ankara must cease its attacks against Iraqi Kurdistan. If not, we will move the theatre of combat to the heart of Turkish cities” he said.

So far, there has been no visible indication about Turkey responding to the Iraqi government’s offer for talks to resolve the crisis.

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