Turkey is supporting Iraq’s efforts in the fight against terrorism, Ankara’s envoy to the country Ali Rıza Güney said on Sunday during a visit to Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

According to a statement by the Iraqi Prime Minister’s office, Güney and al-Kadhimi discussed bilateral ties as well as cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and security.

Both officials also underlined the importance of preventing terrorist groups from endangering the region’s security and stability.

PKK terrorists often use northern Iraq as a base to plan cross-border terrorist attacks on Turkey. The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) regularly conduct 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.

Turkey has carried out a series of offensives since 2019 against terrorist groups in northern Iraq, particularly the PKK. The latest operations are Claw-Lightning and Claw-Thunderbolt launched this April in the Metina and Avasin-Basyan regions, while operations Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle were initiated in June last year.