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Turkish Forces Kill 13 Kurdish Militants in Northern Iraq

Turkish forces targeted Kurdish militants in northern Iraq with airstrikes (AFP file photo)
Turkish forces targeted Kurdish militants in northern Iraq with airstrikes (AFP file photo)
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Turkish Forces Kill 13 Kurdish Militants in Northern Iraq

Turkish forces targeted Kurdish militants in northern Iraq with airstrikes (AFP file photo)
Turkish forces targeted Kurdish militants in northern Iraq with airstrikes (AFP file photo)

Turkish forces targeted Kurdish militants in northern Iraq with airstrikes, killing 13 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the defense ministry said on Tuesday.

The PKK militants were "neutralized" in the Gara and Haftanin regions of northern Iraq, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry's use of the term "neutralized" generally means killed, according to Reuters.

Türkiye's military previously conducted airstrikes in northern Iraq on Friday and destroyed 25 Kurdish militant targets, the defense ministry said in an earlier statement.

It said those targets included caves, shelters, bunkers, depots and facilities.

The PKK, which has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, is designated a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

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Türkiye, Armenia Make Progress in Normalization Talks

A border tower is seen in Getap, some 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Yerevan, on the Armenian side of the Armenian-Turkish border, Nov. 1, 2009. (Reuters)
A border tower is seen in Getap, some 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Yerevan, on the Armenian side of the Armenian-Turkish border, Nov. 1, 2009. (Reuters)
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Türkiye, Armenia Make Progress in Normalization Talks

A border tower is seen in Getap, some 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Yerevan, on the Armenian side of the Armenian-Turkish border, Nov. 1, 2009. (Reuters)
A border tower is seen in Getap, some 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Yerevan, on the Armenian side of the Armenian-Turkish border, Nov. 1, 2009. (Reuters)

Türkiye and Armenia on Tuesday resumed talks aimed at normalizing ties after a two-year lull and agreed to simplify visa rules for some passport holders, the two countries said.

Ankara severed diplomatic and commercial relations with Yerevan in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan during its war with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and has deepened ties with the ethnically Turkic Azeris in recent years.

According to Reuters, since the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict ended, NATO member Türkiye has sought to revive its historically strained ties with Armenia, though it has said any normalization depends on progress in Armenia's peace talks with Azerbaijan.

Turkish and Armenian special envoys held a fifth round of negotiations on the Alican-Magara border crossing on Tuesday, the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministries said in a joint statement.

They agreed to assess technical requirements for reopening the Akyaka-Akhurik border crossing to rail transport as well as simplify mutual visa procedures for diplomatic and official passport holders, the statement said.

It added the two sides reaffirmed a commitment to pursue normalisation without preconditions, but gave no date for the next round of talks.

Türkiye and Armenia have long been at odds mainly over the 1.5 million Armenians who Yerevan says were killed in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor to modern Türkiye.

Armenia says this constitutes genocide. Türkiye accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War One, but contests the figures and denies any genocide occurred.