Three Iraqis killed in Turkish attack prompts cross talk between the two governments

Tension between Ankara and Baghdad over operations against Kurdish militants

photo_camera PHOTO/ Turkish Ministry of Defence via AP - Archive photograph of Friday 19 June 2020, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, centre, wearing a face mask to protect himself from the coronavirus, visits Turkish troops on the border with Iraq, Hakkari Province, Turkey

The Ankara government has announced that it will continue its operations against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq if Baghdad continues to ignore the presence of these militiamen in the region, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said, according to Reuters.

Turkish attacks on members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been regular, both in the Kurdish southeast and in northern Iraq.  In June, Ankara launched a new offensive, dubbed Operation Claw Tiger, to push Turkish forces deeper into Iraq.

In early July, the Turkish Ministry of Defense said that two planes detected and destroyed "terrorist targets" linked to the PKK, killing three members of the group.

Tropas turcas en acción contra los militantes kurdos en el norte de Irak

The PKK is based in the Qandil Mountains in Iraq, near the border with Iran, and is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the U.S.

For its part, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry summoned the Turkish ambassador Fatih Yildiz, according to the Iraqi news agency INA, to present a letter of protest against Turkey's violations on its territory. According to the agency, the latest Turkish drone attack in Erbil, Kurdistan, killed two Iraqi officers and one soldier.

The Iraqi government has called this attack a "blatant aggression" and cancelled a visit by Turkey's defence minister to the country.

Turkey's response was swift and in a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the presence of the PKK also posed a real threat to Iraq and that it was Baghdad's responsibility to take action against members of the terrorist group, but that Ankara would defend its borders if the PKK's presence was allowed.

Fuerzas kurdas iraquíes de los Peshmerga en las afueras de Arbil, la capital de la región autónoma kurda del norte del Iraq

"Our country is ready to cooperate with Iraq on this issue". However, in case the PKK's presence in Iraq is overlooked, our country is determined to take whatever measures it deems necessary for its border security, no matter where it is located," the statement said.

At least 40,000 people have died in the conflict between the PKK and the Turkish government, a war that has lasted more than three decades. After the peace process broke down abruptly in 2015, ending a two-year ceasefire, Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government said it would not return to dialogue with the group.

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