The PKK terrorist group is destroying the homes of the poor, collecting illegal taxes and engaging in extortion in the region, a top official from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said Sunday.
The PKK has created problems within Iraq in Makhmour, Sinjar, the vicinity of Kirkuk and in the Khanaqin region, Safeen Dizayee, the head of the KRG Department of Foreign Relations, told the Irbil-based Kurdistan TV channel.
The KRG is an elected government and is responsible for these regions, Dizayee said, adding the PKK considers itself "an alternative."
He said the PKK has changed the names of some regions such as Qandil and criticized how the terrorist group claims the right to impose its will and collect taxes from the people.
"Who gave (the PKK) the right to change the names of these regions, to impose their own power and to collect taxes and tributes from the people?" he added.
In a statement on Feb. 27, 2021, KRG Prime Minister Masoud Barzani emphasized that the authorities could not rebuild 800 villages because of the PKK, adding they would not tolerate the terrorist group's presence in the region.
Due to the KRG government's close political, economic and cultural ties with Turkey, the PKK has not hesitated from harming the economic resources of the regional administration, which it accuses of "collaboration."
The PKK terrorist group continues to threaten the security of civilians and KRG security forces in northern Iraq since taking root in the region in 1983.
The Turkish Defense Ministry announced it launched Operation Claw-Lock last week after reports that the PKK terrorist group was planning to launch a large-scale attack, adding that the preemptive operation is in line with the United Nations Charter's principle of self-defense.
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.
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 the latest military campaign in northern Iraq titled "Operation Claw-Lock" to bring an end to the 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, the YPG, are present – is founded on a legal basis arising from international law, as Article 51 of the U.N. Charter gives nations the inherent right for 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 posed a critical problem and threat to the security of Turkey.
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, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Wednesday.
Erdoğan said that the new counterterrorism operation across the border into northern Iraq, Operation Claw-Lock, aims to "rid Iraqi lands of terrorists and guarantee the security of our borders."
"The Turkish Armed Forces launched this operation to clear the areas occupied in northern Iraq from terrorists," said Erdoğan, adding that the area has been used by PKK terrorists to prepare and organize terrorist attacks on Turkish soil.
"We are making every effort to contribute to the strengthening of their territorial integrity and political unity so that our neighbors can live in security and peace," said Erdoğan.
The latest operation was launched after Turkish intelligence obtained information suggesting that the PKK, which has sustained heavy blows in the past few years, was preparing retaliatory attacks against Turkey.
Operation Claw-Lock focuses on northern Iraqi regions, particularly the areas of Metina, Zap and Avashin-Basyan. Commando and special force units are supported by UAVs, attack helicopters and artillery elements.
Northern Iraq is known as the location of many PKK terrorist hideouts and bases from where they carry out attacks in Turkey. The Turkish military regularly conducts cross-border operations in northern Iraq. Turkey has long been stressing that it will not tolerate terrorist threats posed against its national security and has called on Iraqi officials to take the necessary steps to eliminate the terrorist group. Ankara previously noted that if the expected steps were not taken, it would not shy away from targeting terrorist threats.
Since its foundation in 1984, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people in Turkey, including women, children and infants.