Local Kurdish officials confirmed the overnight airstrikes, but said there were no casualties or significant material damage.
The Turkish Armed Forces targeted PKK shelters and weapons depots in Hakurk, the Avasin-Basyan front, and Qandil regions, they announced on Twitter.
The army also said it had “neutralized” 34 PKK fighters between June 1 and 8. The army uses the term “neutralized” to refer to those killed, wounded, or otherwise removed from the battlefield.
The mayor of Rawanduz, Kwestan Ahmed, told Rudaw that Turkish fighter jets bombed the villages of Zargali and Bokriskan in the Warte area of Rawanduz, in northeastern Erbil province.
In the Choman area, close to the Iranian border, the local mayor also confirmed overnight airstrikes. Ahmed Qadir said Turkish warplanes targeted the villages of Qasre and Kalak Balayan, causing no material damage.
In Sidakan, north of Rawanduz and Choman, mayor Ahmed Chalabi, said Turkish airstrikes targeted Hakurk, Shapan, and Khalifan heights.
There was no damage, according to Chalabi.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to drain the “terror swamp” in Qandil, where the PKK has its headquarters.
The PKK has claimed that Turkey’s offensive against Qandil is election propaganda.
“Why is the operation on the agenda now? It is psychological warfare and election propaganda” to gain votes for Erdogan, Mustafa Karasu, a member of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) executive council, the PKK umbrella organization, recently wrote in Yeni Ozgur Politica, a newspaper with ties to the PKK.
Kurdish leaders in Rojava, however, believe the motive behind Turkey’s offensive is much more sinister.
"This operation isn't for the sake of gains in the so-called elections scheduled to be held on June 24, for which Erdogan trades the blood of the Turkish nation. Rather it is a deeper plan, signifying Turkish determination in exterminating our nation. That is why the issue is one of existence and non-existence,” TEV-DEM, the ruling coalition in Rojava, northern Syria, said in a statement released on Tuesday.
TEV-DEM called on the leadership of the Kurdistan Region to take a firm stance against Ankara.
"We call on our nation in Southern Kurdistan, including all political, societal, and party organizations, at their forefront the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Gorran, and the Iraqi government in Baghdad to take a stance against what Erdogan does and to counter it with all they have got to tackle his policy in Southern Kurdistan,” the statement read.
Officials in Baghdad have rejected the presence of Turkish forces on Iraqi soil. In Erbil, KRG officials have called on the PKK to withdraw in order to protect the civilian population.
A group of opposition lawmakers called on the Kurdistan Region parliament to convene in order to condemn Turkey’s offensive.
Turkey’s Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said their armed forces will remain in Kurdistan until their mission is complete.
In comments on state-run TV Anadolu, Canikli said that they have the backing of Iran.
The PKK has predicted this will be a long, hot summer of major conflict with Turkish forces.
Turkey has accelerated its aerial and ground campaigns against PKK fighters in the mountainous areas of the northern parts of the Kurdistan Region, launching an offensive on March 10.
