Updated: Erdogan announces operation in Shingal to remove PKK

In a speech to supporters of his ruling AK Party in Trabzon, Erdogan said: “Military operation in Shingal has started. PKK needs to withdraw from Qandil and Shingal, otherwise our operation will not stop.”

“We said we would go into Sinjar. Now operations have begun there. The fight is internal and external,” he said.

Iraq’s Joint Operations Command denied an operation was underway.

“The operations command confirmed that the situation in Nineveh, Sinjar and the border areas was under the control of Iraqi security forces and there is no reason for troops to cross the Iraqi border into those areas,” it said in a statement, according to Reuters.

Erdogan’s statement comes at a time when the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the PKK’s umbrella group, announced it will withdraw its guerrilla fighters from Shingal after striking an agreement with the Iraqi government. 

The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the US, deployed forces to Shingal in 2014 to help defend the Yezidis against the genocidal campaign of ISIS.

The group announced the withdrawal of its fighters from Shingal on Friday, saying the Yezidi population no longer faces a security threat and the Iraqi government is capable of providing security to the area.

Yezidis have already begun fleeing Shingal, fearing an imminent Turkish offensive, according to Vian Dakhil, the only Yezidi member of the Iraqi parliament. She called on the legislature to "commit" Baghdad to preventing such an operation.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister said on Tuesday that Baghdad strongly rejects any Turkish attacks within its borders after he met with a delegation from Turkey.

Ankara has said they want to coordinate with Baghdad against the PKK in Iraq.

News of the potential offensive comes amid reports of further Turkish airstrikes in the Kurdistan Region, following those on Saturday which killed four people.