Turkey's operations against the PKK terrorists in northern Iraq will help Baghdad reestablish and consolidate Iraqi sovereignty and security in those areas, Ankara's ambassador to Baghdad said Wednesday.
Ambassador Ali Riza Güney made the comments in a meeting with the governor of the northern Nineveh governorate, Najeem al-Jabouri, in Nineveh's capital Mosul, along with a delegation of representatives from Iraq's Industry Ministry.
Noting that the city of Mosul was severely damaged by the Daesh terrorist group, and the young people there are in dire need of jobs, he said Turkish companies have been seeking to invest in the region in an effort to contribute to employment.
The Turkish diplomat went on to say that Ankara values peace and safety in neighboring Iraq and now is a good time to invest since Daesh has been militarily defeated.
However, Daesh is not the only "headache" Iraq has, according to the Turkish official, who said the PKK terror group also poses a major risk to the country's sovereignty and security, as it killed Iraqi soldiers in Mosul's Sinjar district and Peshmerga in the northern Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) area.
"The Republic of Turkey's fight against the PKK (aims) to reestablish and strengthen Iraqi sovereignty," he said.
Al-Jabouri, for his part, said he was glad Turkish companies have a presence in Mosul and that Iraq's ties with Turkey are strong, adding that they invested in a wide range of sectors such as industry, agriculture and water.
In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.
Turkey has launched successive operations against the PKK in northern Iraq since 2020, most recently Operation Claw-Lock in April targeting PKK hideouts in Iraq's Metina region.
In 2020, Turkey launched operations Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle in the border regions of northern Iraq to ensure the safety of the Turkish people and frontiers.
Iraq accused Turkey of violating its sovereignty, summoned the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad and delivered a "strongly worded" protest note to him, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Iraq also called on its neighbor to withdraw all of its forces from Iraqi territory.
In response, the Turkish Foreign Ministry also handed a diplomatic note to the Iraqi envoy and accused the Iraqi government of making "unfounded allegations" over the military operation.
Turkey's operation was launched two days after a rare visit by the prime minister of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Masrour Barzani, suggesting that he had been briefed on Ankara's plans.
With most of the PKK terrorist group's presence eliminated in Turkish territories, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have stepped up their counterterrorism efforts, launching their latest military campaign in northern Iraq titled Operation Claw-Lock to bring an end to a longstanding issue.
Senior Turkish authorities have repeatedly underlined that the operation – like previous military operations in northern Syria and Iraq where the PKK and its Syrian offshoot YPG are present – is founded on a legal basis arising from international law, as Article 51 of the United Nations Charter gives the inherent right of self-defense should they face armed attacks.
While Article 51 itself paves the way for a military campaign targeting threats in northern Iraq, the bilateral agreements between Ankara and Baghdad also permit the former to take action as the latter had earlier agreed that the PKK brought along critical problems and threats to the security of Turkey.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly said that Turkey has no designs on another country's land but instead only wants to ensure the security of its borders and the stability of its neighbors.
