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3rd Turkish Soldier Killed in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, fright wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus, visits Turkish troops at the border with Iraq, in Hakkari province, Turkey, on Friday, June 19, 2020. (Turkish Defense Ministry via AP, Pool)
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, fright wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus, visits Turkish troops at the border with Iraq, in Hakkari province, Turkey, on Friday, June 19, 2020. (Turkish Defense Ministry via AP, Pool)
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3rd Turkish Soldier Killed in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, fright wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus, visits Turkish troops at the border with Iraq, in Hakkari province, Turkey, on Friday, June 19, 2020. (Turkish Defense Ministry via AP, Pool)
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, fright wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus, visits Turkish troops at the border with Iraq, in Hakkari province, Turkey, on Friday, June 19, 2020. (Turkish Defense Ministry via AP, Pool)

A Turkish soldier died Sunday during the ongoing clashes with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq’s Kurdish region, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said.

The clashes are part of the “Operation Claw-Tiger,” which Turkish forces launched in northern Iraq on June 17, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry tweeted that Specialist Corporal Recep Yuksel was killed in a firefight with PKK members as part of the Operation Claw-Tiger’s mission area.

Yuksel was the third soldier to be killed in this offensive. The ministry announced on Saturday the death of its second soldier, adding that two PKK elements were neutralized in the clashes.

On June 20, it announced that a Turkish soldier in Haftanin was killed and four PKK elements neutralized in airstrikes on al-Zab province.

Turkish forces have carried out two separate operations in northern Iraq over the past two weeks, justified by “increased PKK attacks on Turkish army bases in the borders between the two countries.”

The first operation, dubbed Claw-Eagle, was launched on June 15, during which areas in northern Iraq were bombed by airstrikes and artillery.

Two days later, the second ongoing operation, called Claw-Tiger, kicked off with the participation of the Special Forces.

Ankara says there is no timeframe for the two operations, noting that they will continue until PKK capabilities are paralyzed and their locations and logistical capacities are destroyed.

Iraq rejects the Turkish operations in which many civilians have been killed.

The Iraqi presidency said the operations are in violation of Iraq’s national sovereignty, but Ankara says its military offensives are carried out in coordination with Baghdad authorities.

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.