Islam Times - Turkish Military Advances Deep into Northern Iraq: Aspects and Ramifications

Islam Times - With the arrival of the summer, Turkey has started a new round of air and ground raids on Iraqi territories in recent days.

On Sunday, Turkish fighters once again bombed an area in Dohuk province in northern Iraq under the pretext of fighting PKK elements. Iraqi media reported that Turkey caused significant damage to the infrastructure and properties of these areas with its daily attacks and led to the displacement of many residents.

Some Iraqi media reported that the Turkish bombardment led to massive fires in the surrounding forests and gardens, indicating that the humanitarian situation in Dohuk is rapidly deteriorating and there is a dire need for humanitarian assistance. According to a conflict monitor, the Turkish army advanced 15 kilometers deep into Kurdistan and forced the evacuation of hundreds of villages.

According to Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed report, Turkey's operations have begun near Kani Masi and Mount Matina in Dohuk province. Turkish soldiers with heavy weapons have set up several checkpoints, especially near the villages of Balaveh and Belizani along the main road between Bamarni and Kani Masi districts, about 57 kilometers northeast of Dohuk.

Last month, Turkey sent hundreds of troops and military vehicles to the Kurdistan region and established checkpoints and military patrols in the Baroye Bala region of Dohuk.

Turkey has been violating the territorial integrity of Iraq for a long time under the pretext of confronting PKK elements. This group is on the terror list of Turkey, the US and European Union. Baghdad has repeatedly called Turkey's attacks on northern Iraq an example of occupation, and many areas of northern Syria and Iraq have been depopulated following successive attacks by the Turkish army.

Establishing bases for occupation

Despite the repeated warnings of resistance groups and Baghdad for the withdrawal of Turkish military forces, Ankara not only did not take any action to leave Iraq, but also in recent years it has strengthened its foothold in this country by building a base.

The Community Peacemakers Team (CPT), an independent American monitoring group, in its latest report talked about advances of the Turkish army in Kurdistan region and establishment of 7 new bases. The group warned that should the Turkish operations continue, 600 villages are under the risk of depopulation.

CPT has also announced a significant increase in air and ground attacks of the Turkish army in 2024. The Turkish army has carried out nearly 1,100 attacks in the Kurdistan region in the last six months. This is while Turkey had carried out about 1,500 attacks in the territory of the Kurdistan region in 2023.

According to the report of CPT, Turkey plans to seize the heights of Gareh and Haftanin in Dohuk province, in which case, the regional government will lose control of more than 75 percent of the soil of Dohuk province.

Shafaq News Agency has also confirmed Turkey's advances in the territory of the autonomous region and the establishment of new bases in this region. This news agency pointed out that the advance of the Turkish army in Iraqi territory in 2019 was based on an informal agreement between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Turkish government, but the level of advances has grown broader in recent years.

The news agency reported that between 5,000 and 10,000 Turkish military forces have been stationed in the territory of the Kurdistan region. Also, the heavy military and civilian machinery of the Turkish army, which have been moved to Amidi city with the aim of providing the access of the army to the strategic mountainous areas, are building more access roads and new military bases.

Jabar Yawar, the Peshmerga minister in the KRG between 2014 and 2022, in an interview with the Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed said that the "number of Turkish military bases in northern Iraq is about 80, and these bases are different in terms of size along the Iraqi border with Turkey.

Two years ago, officials from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) reported the number of the Turkish bases in Iraq as 20. Given the new report of the large number of these bases, Turkey seems to have advanced deeper and broader in the Iraqi territories and has no plans for exit.

Some Turkish military bases are located at a depth of 10 kilometers and others at a depth of about 40 kilometers inside Iraqi territories along 200 kilometers of the borders of the two countries. The number of Turkish forces in Iraq is at least 5,000. They are home to various weapons from artillery and armored vehicles, as well as helicoptersand drone landing sites.

According to the latest information, Yawar said, Turkish forces established new land routes on the Turkish-Iraq border to some of their military bases, and in addition to air operations or artillery firing, they are conducting ground operations in those areas every day.

"The border case and border protection is the responsibility of the federal forces, but there are border areas where the Iraqi forces have not yet entered due to the Turkish military deployment and the presence of PKK elements, so Turkey uses this big security gap to move in and out of Iraq," Yawar added.

Despite the recent attacks by Turkey, some representatives of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) have announced that they do not have enough information on this matter and have not commented on the reason for the silence of Erbil and the Democratic Party, under the pretext of the summer vacation of the Iraqi parliament. Iraqi government officials have, either, shown no desire to make clear statements about the position of the central government in this regard.

It seems that the Barzani family has shown indifference to Turkey's attacks against the PKK or even green lighted them, because the autonomous region needs Ankara for selling its oil and gas, and the economic benefit keeps Erbil from taking strong positions against Turkey's attacks.

Given the threats posed to the PKK by the neighbors and the regular Iranian and Turkish attacks on the terror group's positions, the KDP does not dislike terminating the group in Kurdistan region as the party knows that in the absence of this group, the region's security will be restored and foreign threats will be eliminated.

Contrary to Erbil's policies, the conditions are different for the central government and economic and political reservations do not make Baghdad disregard its territorial integrity. Iraqi leaders have always demanded Turkey's withdrawal from the north of the country, and they consider the continued presence of these forces running counter to principles of neighborhood. From the point of view of the Iraqi officials, if the aim is to eradicate the terrorists, this task should be given to the federal forces and be conducted within the framework of joint security cooperations between the two countries, and not Turkey's occupation of Iraqi territory and the violation of the country's national sovereignty. As mentioned in the security agreement with Iran and Iraq, the central government forces take security measures to eliminate terrorist threats against the neighbors.

Turkey's double standards regarding the neighbors

Turkey's attacks on Iraq and Syria under the pretext of confronting terrorist groups are in conflict with this country's neighborhood policy. Ankara officials always talk about the policy of de-escalation and improvement of relations with neighbors, but in practice they commit the opposite, which can be clearly seen in the case of Iraq and Syria.

In his April visit to Iraq, Erdogan signed a security and economic agreement with Baghdad emphasizing respect to Iraq's sovereignty, but Ankara does not abide by this agreement.

In addition to repeated attacks on Iraq, Turkey has also carried out similar attacks in northern Syria in the past decade. Turkey views the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, which is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and the European Union, as a continuation of the PKK. Erdogan claims that he is seeking to resume relations with the Syrian government, but on the other hand, with the deployment of Turkish troops in northern Syria and attacks on terrorist groups without coordination with Damascus, he closes the path to rapprochement.

PKK's defense power

Turkey claims that over the past decade it has destroyed a majority of the PKK positions, but at the same time, this terrorist group seems to have been equipping itself militarily.

In this relation, the press center of the People's Defense Forces (HPG), the armed wing of the PKK, on June 9 reported that its fighters shot down a Turkish combat drone in Asous region of Suleimaniya.

PKK procurement of powerful air defenses indicates that some foreign sides are supporting this terrorist group. There is a speculation that the US-backed Kurdish groups in Syria have provided air defenses to the PKK.

Since the Turkish drones are among the world's best, shooting them down by the terrorists shows that they have a difficult job operating in Iraq from now on to destroy positions of terrorists and Turkey will see higher costs of operations in Iraq.