ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Turkey’s defense minister spoke on the phone with his Iraqi counterpart on Wednesday, discussing bilateral relations and security issues, including Ankara’s recent military operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region, according to a statement from the Turkish defense ministry.
According to the statement, Turkish defense minister Hulusi Akar told his Iraqi counterpart Juma Anad that they “respect the territorial integrity, borders and sovereignty of all our neighboring countries, especially Iraq.”
Akar added that their aim in the fight against “terrorism” is to remove “terrorists who have nestled in northern Iraq and killed 40,000 people in addition to committing crimes against humanity,” referring to the PKK, which has fought the Turkish state for nearly four decades.
The phone call comes two days after the Iraqi foreign ministry summoned Turkey’s top diplomat in Baghdad, handing him a memorandum of condemnation against Turkey’s “continued violation” of Iraqi sovereignty, including Akar’s “uncoordinated” trip to border areas of the Kurdistan Region.
Akar visited Turkish soldiers at a military base in the Kurdistan Region on Saturday amid the country’s fresh offensive against the PKK in Duhok province.
Two weeks ago, the Turkish military launched new operations against the PKK in the Kurdistan Region. The Metina area, on the border, is the focus of Operation Claw-Thunderbolt, and Operation Claw-Lightning targets the Avashin and Basyan areas further east.
Akar told his troops at the Golcuk Naval Command earlier in the day that the Turkish army has killed a total of 68 PKK fighters in the Kurdistan Region in both operations, according to the pro-government Hurriyet Daily News.
“Everyone should know that we are in northern Iraq due to the terrorists nesting there in terms of Iraq’s terrain conditions,” he said.
The PKK is an armed Kurdish group, seeking increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. Ankara considers it a terrorist organization and a threat to its national security. It frequently sends fighter jets, attack helicopters, drones, and ground troops across the border to fight the group.
