MESOPOTAMIA NEWS TODAYS TOP OF THE AGENDA – Turkey Targets Kurds in Iraq Air Strikes

Turkey carried out air strikes in northern Iraq against more than a dozen targets of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), killing at least six suspected PKK fighters (Anadolu), the head of the Turkish armed forces said.

Turkish ground forces had recently advanced further into Iraqi territory, saying over the weekend that they pushed another fifteen miles (National) into Iraqi Kurdistan’s Qandil Mountains. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that there would be “four-way cooperation” (VOA) between Ankara, Baghdad, Washington, and Irbil in the fight against the PKK, considered terrorists by Turkey, though the United States has not confirmed its participation. In neighboring Syria, U.S.-backed Kurdish forces announced they will leave the northern town of Manbij (Al Jazeera) following an agreement between Ankara and Washington.

ANALYSIS

“Due to the difficult terrain and the small number of forces despatched to northern Iraq by Ankara, this latest incursion may simply be a way to drum up greater support for the ruling party ahead of Turkish voters heading to the polls on 24 June,” writes the New Arab.

“Some Arab residents in Manbij would prefer the city to be taken over by the Turkish Army and Syrian rebels allied with them. Others see risks in allying with Turkey, and say they want the Syrian government to retake Manbij,” Jenan Moussa and Harald Doornbos write for the New York Times.

This CFR InfoGuide looks at the Kurds, one of the world’s largest ethnic groups without a state.