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Türkiye Strikes PKK Members in Northern Iraq Air Raid

Smoke billows following reported Turkish warplane raids, from a site in the Matin Mountains near the village of Koherzi in the Amadiyah district, northeast of Dohuk in the Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq, on April 28th 2022. (AFP)
Smoke billows following reported Turkish warplane raids, from a site in the Matin Mountains near the village of Koherzi in the Amadiyah district, northeast of Dohuk in the Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq, on April 28th 2022. (AFP)
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Türkiye Strikes PKK Members in Northern Iraq Air Raid

Smoke billows following reported Turkish warplane raids, from a site in the Matin Mountains near the village of Koherzi in the Amadiyah district, northeast of Dohuk in the Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq, on April 28th 2022. (AFP)
Smoke billows following reported Turkish warplane raids, from a site in the Matin Mountains near the village of Koherzi in the Amadiyah district, northeast of Dohuk in the Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq, on April 28th 2022. (AFP)

Türkiye struck 23 members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in an air raid some 140 kilometers into northern Iraq, the Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

It said all the group had been "neutralized", which typically means killed.

Türkiye regularly carries out cross-border air strikes, often with armed drones, in neighboring Iraq as part of its offensive against PKK there.

On Thursday, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said the military had hit 16 targets in air strikes that week in the same Asos region deep into Iraqi territory.

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Erdogan: Kurdish Militia in Syria Will Be Buried If They Do Not Lay Down Arms

A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
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Erdogan: Kurdish Militia in Syria Will Be Buried If They Do Not Lay Down Arms

A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Kurdish fighters in Syria will either lay down their weapons or "be buried", amid hostilities between Türkiye-backed Syrian fighters and the militants since the fall of Bashar al-Assad this month.
Following Assad's departure, Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the Kurdish YPG group must disband, asserting that the group has no place in Syria's future. The change in Syria's leadership has left the country's main Kurdish factions on the back foot.
"The separatist murderers will either bid farewell to their weapons, or they will be buried in Syrian lands along with their weapons," Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party in parliament.
"We will eradicate the terrorist organization that is trying to weave a wall of blood between us and our Kurdish siblings," he added.
Türkiye views the Kurdish YPG group- the main component of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militia, which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.
The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union. Ankara has repeatedly called on its NATO ally Washington and others to stop supporting the YPG.
Earlier, Türkiye's defense ministry said the armed forces had killed 21 YPG-PKK militants in northern Syria and Iraq.
In a Reuters interview last week, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time, saying they had helped battle ISIS and would return home if a total ceasefire was agreed with Türkiye, a core demand from Ankara.
He denied any organizational ties with the PKK.
Erdogan also said Türkiye would soon open its consulate in Aleppo, and added Ankara expected an increase in traffic at its borders in the summer of next year, as some of the millions of Syrian migrants it hosts begin returning.