"Turkey never targets civilians, it only targets the PKK terrorist organization," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on July 21, referring to Ankara’s counterterrorism operations targeting the PKK in northern Iraq. His comments aimed to counter the immediate accusations of Iraqi officials who blamed Turkey for the attack that killed eight civilians and injured 23 others in Iraq’s Duhok province on July 20.
In the hours following the incident, the Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement that rejected accusations against Turkey, urging Iraqi authorities to refrain from making remarks influenced by PKK propaganda in the region and targeting Ankara. The statement clearly underlined that "Turkey is ready to take all steps to reveal the truth."
The bloody attack, which security sources have said was perpetrated by the terrorist group in the region, came shortly after the trilateral summit in Tehran, where President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held meetings with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss several issues including Syria, bilateral ties and the grain issue and other developments in Ukraine.
During his visit, Erdoğan also met with Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei. One of the moments to highlight during the summit was Khamanei’s remarks on Turkey’s possible operation against the YPG terrorists, the PKK’s Syria affiliate, in northern Syria.
Turkey argues that the U.S.-backed YPG terrorists must be eliminated from Manbij and Tal Rifaat in northern Syria. Ankara has also emphasized the importance of eliminating the terror threat to Turkey’s sovereignty from the region, widening the safe zone to a 30-kilometer-deep (19-mile) area in Syria and facilitating safe and voluntary returns of Syrian civilians to their country.
Iran’s policy toward Syria and aim of maintaining its influence in the region, from Syria to Yemen and Iraq, is not a secret agenda. As such, opposition to Turkey’s effective operations in Syria against the YPG terrorists is an expected position.
A new military operation, would be "definitely to the detriment of Syria, Turkey and the region, and the political action expected from the Syrian government as a result wouldn’t be realized," Khameni was quoted as saying as Erdoğan was holding his meetings in Tehran.
Erdoğan, reiterating Turkey’s firm response to terrorism along its southern borders, firmly responded: "As Turkey, we see no difference between terrorist organizations such as Daesh or the PKK/PYD/YPG. We reject the rationale of using one as a proxy to fight the other. Our fight against terrorist organizations will continue permanently without caring where they operate and who supports them. We are determined to eradicate from Syria the malicious groups that threaten our national security. Our expectation from Russia and Iran is that they support Turkey’s endeavors to that effect as the Astana guarantors."
It is clear that Iran and Turkey are both against terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq. The territorial integrity of Syria is another point that Turkey and Iran, as well as Russia agree upon.
Yet, the problem in defining terrorist groups and categorizing them remains an obstacle to having a solid and unified approach to eliminating terrorism from Syria and moving toward stability in Syria. Of course, clear divergence on the political future of Syria and the Assad issue is another issue where parties strongly disagree with one another, namely the Iran-Russia axis versus Turkey.
In the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Moscow is currently "mostly" occupied with the developments there. Yet, it does not want to lose its status-quo in Syria. Seeing this as an opportunity, Iran may have aim of increasing its influence in Syria.
Within the backdrop of the Tehran summit, Turkey’s effective operations in northern Iraq and Syria are not welcomed. The fact Iran’s message was delivered through the supreme leader is a strong indicator of that. In other words, the unwelcoming response is toward Turkey’s effective counterterrorism operations and ultimately its increasing influence in the region.
Immediately after the Dohuk attack, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi warned Turkey that Iraq reserves the "right to retaliate," calling the artillery fire a "flagrant violation" of sovereignty. Khadimi’s immediate condemnation was echoed by the federal president and by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
International media outlets were also quick to label the attack as a "Turkey attack" or "Turkish attack," despite the lack of clear evidence.
One thing should be clear, the attack serves no purpose to Ankara’s counterterrorism military operations and political aims in the region. However, it should also be noted that such a provocative attack and blaming it on Turkey could effectively serve the purposes of others bothered by Turkey’s operations against the PKK/YPG.
If the aim is to find the perpetrators and those responsible for the lost civilian lives, Ankara’s immediate call for a joint investigation should be seriously taken into consideration. Only through a joint and transparent investigation can the truth be revealed and those responsible brought to justice.
Be it in Syria, Iraq, Turkey or Iran, terrorism does not benefit the civilian, political or economic stability in the region. From the U.S.-backed YPG to other derivatives of the PKK, terrorism should be confronted by strong actors in the region for the long-term stability and prosperity of the region that would serve the benefit of the people, not those with imperialist agendas in the region.