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Türkiye: Iran’s Behavior Hinders Counterterrorism Efforts

Members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Reuters)
Members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Reuters)
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Türkiye: Iran’s Behavior Hinders Counterterrorism Efforts

Members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Reuters)
Members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Reuters)

Türkiye voiced discontent with Iran’s treatment of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist group by Ankara. Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler, in a televised interview Thursday night, expressed frustration, rebuking Iran’s stance as unfriendly.
According to Guler, Türkiye had informed Iranian counterparts of PKK movements and surveillance efforts, but Iranians denied finding anyone, which the defense minister found concerning.
Türkiye has vowed to keep up its attacks on the party in northern Iraq, aiming to destroy PKK hideouts. Guler stated Türkiye has changed its strategy, focusing on targeting and destroying terrorists in their hideouts.
Guler highlighted the Kurdistan Workers' Party's long-standing presence in northern Iraq, where it carries out terrorist activities spanning across Iraq, Syria, and Iran.
Turkish forces have been stationed in northern Iraq for about six years, leading to the evacuation of many PKK former strongholds. However, Guler mentioned that members of the party still move freely in Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan Region.
Regarding Turkish military operations in northern Iraq under Operation “Claw-Lock,” the Turkish Defense Minister welcomed the Iraqi officials’ shift in attitude towards the PKK.
Guler accused the PKK of staging actions that have consequently displaced 800 villages in Iraq, leaving civilians in distress, and highlighted that Iraq now considers the party a banned organization.
In related news, a columnist from the Turkish government-aligned “Hurriyet” newspaper discussed Iranian-American efforts to disrupt the growing ties between Ankara and Baghdad.
The columnist mentioned that there’s significant activity on the borders, and soon there might be a major operation in Iraq against the PKK.
However, Iraq’s decision-making power is limited, with heavy influence from the US and Iran, the columnist argued, accusing Tehran and Washington of taking steps to undermine the Turkish-Iraqi relationship.
The Shia-Sunni divide in Iraq shapes the balance of power, while ethnic balance is influenced by Arab, Kurdish, and Turkmen presence, they added.

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Medical Charity Condemns Israel's Use of Hunger as 'Weapon of War' in Gaza

A Palestinian boy at a garbage dump in central Gaza City, 12 May 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
A Palestinian boy at a garbage dump in central Gaza City, 12 May 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
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Medical Charity Condemns Israel's Use of Hunger as 'Weapon of War' in Gaza

A Palestinian boy at a garbage dump in central Gaza City, 12 May 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
A Palestinian boy at a garbage dump in central Gaza City, 12 May 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

A months-long Israeli blockade is worsening acute malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, medical charity Medecins du Monde warned on Tuesday, accusing Israel of using hunger as "a weapon of war".

Israel halted all aid from entering the war-ravaged Palestinian territory on March 2, days before resuming its offensive triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.

The United Nations and aid agencies have repeatedly warned of a growing humanitarian catastrophe for the roughly 2.4 million people in Gaza, amid dwindling supplies of everything from fuel and medicine to food and clean water.

Aid reaches Gaza mainly through Israeli-controlled entry points, though the flow has fluctuated -- even before the March shutdown.

After more than a year and a half of war, acute malnutrition in Gaza has "reached levels comparable to those seen in countries facing prolonged humanitarian crises spanning several decades," AFP quoted Medecins du Monde as saying.

MDM said data from six health centers it runs in the Palestinian territory highlighted "the human responsibility for hunger in Gaza".

"Acute malnutrition rates among pregnant and breastfeeding women and children depend on the Israeli authorities' decisions to allow or block humanitarian aid," it said.

The medical charity said the peaks in acute malnutrition it observed in 2024 "coincided with the sharpest decline in the monthly number of trucks delivering aid to Gaza".

MDM said it saw a peak in child acute malnutrition of 17 percent in November, during a significant reduction of humanitarian aid.

Aid access is limited to Israeli-controlled crossings, with the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt closed since the Israeli army took control of the city in spring 2024.

Israeli authorities have closed the crossing points since March 2, saying they want to force Hamas to release hostages.

The security cabinet in early May approved the "possibility of humanitarian distribution, if necessary" in Gaza, but insisted there was "currently enough food".

The UN's World Food Program in late April said it had depleted all its food stocks in the territory.

"We are not witnessing a humanitarian crisis but a crisis of humanity and moral bankruptcy with the use of hunger as a weapon of war," said Jean-Francois Corty, president of MDM.

"The failure of other countries with the power to pressure the Israeli authorities to lift this deadly siege is unacceptable and could be seen as complicity under international law," he added.

In April, one in five pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly one in four children MDM observed were suffering or were at high risk of acute malnutrition, the charity said.

The MDM report also detailed the domino effect of dwindling food reserves, as well as the destruction of agricultural facilities and sanitation systems, on the malnutrition crisis.

The organization said it could not officially declare famine underway due to a lack of comprehensive data covering the entire Palestinian territory.

The UN- and NGO-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warned Monday that Gaza was at "critical risk of famine", with 22 percent of the population facing an imminent humanitarian "catastrophe".