MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : BAGHDAD’S TAKE OVER OF KURDISH BORDERS / CONRA TURKEY & PKK

Iraq to deploy federal guards in Kurdistan along border with Turkey

17 Sept 2018- BAGHDAD,— The Iraqi government decided on Sunday to deploy federal guards along the border between Iraq’s semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan and Turkey. The decision was made during a government security meeting chaired by outgoing Prime Minister Haider Abadi, according to a statement by Abadi’s office.The deployment by the Ministerial Council for National Security aims to “protect the border areas and prevent any violations,” the statement said.

The ministerial council also instructed the foreign ministry to submit a document on the Turkish violations of the Iraqi airspace to the United Nations, it noted. The statement did not say if there was any coordination between the ministerial council and the Kurdish regional authorities about sending federal troops to the borderline.

Turkish forces frequently carry out ground operations, airstrikes and artillery bombardment against the positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in Iraqi Kurdistan, northern Iraq, especially the Qandil Mountains, the main base of the PKK.

In October 2017, Iraqi forces set a tight deadline for Kurdish forces in Iraqi Kurdistan to withdraw from an area on the Turkish border that is critical for oil exports. In November 2017, Iraqi government forces took control of the key border crossing with Turkey in the Iraqi Kurdistan region after weeks of tensions between Baghdad and Erbil.The border crossing “has been handed over to the central government” of Iraq, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.The Iraqi forces deployed at the Ibrahim Al Khalil (Habur) crossing alongside Turkish forces.

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