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Turkey is planning to establish a 30-kilometer-deep corridor that is cleared of all terror elements extending from northern Syria all the way toward the Iranian borders, as operations targeting terrorists from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq continue to deal large blows to the terror group.
Manbij is set to be the first step in establishing the “safe corridor” that extends from Idlib- Jarabulus- Bab and Azaz, and will encompass eastern Euphrates regions in Syria at a depth of 30- 40 kilometers along Turkey’s southern borders, until it converges with the safe zones created in northern Iraq.
A large blow to PKK terror
Since March 2018, an operation named after a martyred soldier, Specialist Sergeant Gökhan Kurak, is ongoing in Turkish Iraq borders to maintain border security.
During the operation, armed unmanned air vehicles, air and ground forces are being used to eliminate terrorists and destroy their hideouts.
The military has also ensured influence over an area of 30 kilometers inside Iraq’s territory, which is considered as the “First step toward Qandil.”
The second phase is a Qandil operation to be carried out in cooperation with Iraq and Iran.
Northern Iraq’s Qandil Mountains have been a haven for PKK terrorists over the past few decades. Considered as the main base of the PKK, which control checkpoints and entrances to the mountains, the structuring in the area is used for cover and concealment by terrorists.
Work is underway to establish military bases in the regions cleared of PKK terror in order to ensure lasting peace and security in the area, and provide communication with regions where bases had already been established.
Turkish airstrikes killed six PKK terrorists and destroyed 16 targets in northern Iraq, the General Staff said Wednesday.
According to a General Staff statement, the airstrikes include terror camps regions of northern Iraq such as Hakurk, Gara, Metina, Zap, Qandil, and Avaşin Basyan, among others.
Currently, two Turkish army brigades are taking part in the operations carried out in northern Iraq, in addition to the brigades in Turkey’s southern provinces, Hakkari and Şırnak, which carried out highly-effective campaigns.
At the breaking point
Turkey’s domestically-produced recon and combat drones played a large part in the successful blow dealt to the terror organization in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq, which resulted in disrupting 80 percent of the PKK’s logistical resources following ongoing operations in the region.
The operations also helped bring the participation and support of the PKK among local population to a breaking point and helped minimize the terror group’s financial sources, which it obtains through exerting tolls on the region’s impoverished population.
Operations also helped dry the terror group’s drug trade, which is a main source of income for the PKK.
A large blow was also dealt after a large number of high-ranking PKK terrorists were neutralized as a result of the ongoing operations, disrupting and weakening the group’s ability to reproduce a leadership structure.
Iraq launched an air strike against a Daesh target inside neighbouring Syria on Thursday, the military said.The F-16 fighter plane destroyed an area where members of the terrorist group were operating, it said in a statement.Daesh, which once occupied a third of Iraq's territory, has been largely defeated in the country but still poses a threat along its border with Syria.The Iraqi air force has carried out several air strikes against Daesh in Syria since last year, with the approval of the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and the U.S.-led coalition fighting Daesh.Iraq has good relations with Iran and Russia, Assad’s main backers in the Syrian civil war, while also enjoying strong support from the U.S.-led coalition.Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared final victory over Daesh in December but it still operates from pockets along the border with Syria and has continued to carry out ambushes, assassinations and bombings across Iraq.Daesh has resorted to guerrilla tactics since it abandoned its goal of holding territory and creating a self-sufficient caliphate that straddles Iraq and Syria.
Iraq launches air strike against Daesh in Syria
Turkey's interior minister on Wednesday said an anti-terror operation in northern Iraq's mountainous Qandil region is not a distant target for Turkey.In an interview to Turkish channel NTV Suleyman Soylu said: "Diyarbakir is not free as long as Qandil stands there," referring to a possible PKK terrorist attack.Soylu noted that Turkey has a very high level of technological capability, human resources, unmanned aerial vehicles and intelligence to carry out the operation."Turkey now with its capacity can launch an operation wherever and whenever it wants," Soylu added.Airstrikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq, where the terror group has its main base in the Mt. Qandil region, near the Iranian border, have been carried out regularly since July 2015, when the PKK resumed its armed campaign.Also on Wednesday, speaking to state news channel TRT Haber, Mahir Unal, ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party’s spokesman, said the operation has extended all the way to the outskirts of Mt. Qandil."Tens of PKK camps were destroyed. Tens of new bases were established. Qandil will be cleared of this vile PKK terrorist organization," Unal added.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the death of some 40,000 people, including women and children.
Mt. Qandil not distant target anymore says Turkish min.
Qandil is within reach
Turkey's interior minister on Wednesday said an anti-terror operation in northern Iraq's mountainous Qandil region is not a distant target for Turkey.
In an interview to Turkish channel NTV Süleyman Soylu said: "Diyarbakır is not free as long as Qandil stands there," referring to a possible PKK terrorist attack.
He said that Turkish forces were forming a line some 27 kilometers from the border in northern Iraq.
Soylu also noted that Turkey has a very high level of technological capability, human resources, unmanned aerial vehicles and intelligence to carry out the operation.
"Turkey now with its capacity can launch an operation wherever and whenever it wants," Soylu added.
Airstrikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq, where the terror group has its main base in the Mt. Qandil region, near the Iranian border, have been carried out regularly since July 2015, when the PKK resumed its armed campaign.
The U.S. defense secretary said Turkey was a front-line state for NATO and its legitimate interests needed to be addressed, referring to recent talks between both countries regarding Syria's northern Manbij.Speaking to reporters during his flight to Brussels, Jim Mattis said talks had taken place between U.S. secretary of state and the Turkish minister of foreign affairs in Washington D.C.The Manbij roadmap was announced after a meeting in Washington on Monday between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.The deal focuses on the withdrawal of the PKK-affiliated YPG terror group from the northern Syrian city and on stability in the region.Süleyman Shah tomb to return to Manbij after PKK withdrawal"We are working out, how do we take -- again, Turkey, a NATO ally -- how do we take Turkey's legitimate security interests and enhance their security? They are the only NATO nation with an active insurgency inside its borders," said Mattis, according to a transcript made available by the Department of Defense."They're the front-line state for NATO [...] -- on the front line of this disaster that [Bashar al-]Assad has visited upon his people in Syria, with the Iranians' help, the Russians' help. And we have got to find a way to work Turkey's legitimate interests," he stressed.Mattis said the SDF were the only organization at the time able to thwart and defeat Daesh in "very, very tough fighting"."And we will not simply cast that organization aside, because it is critical to stopping -- to defeating the ISIS [Daesh] caliphate now, which we've still not defeated. It is critical to destroying the physical caliphate that -- the operations that are going right now. And it's critical to preventing the rise of ISIS 2.0."NATO chief welcomes Turkey-US roadmap on Manbij, Syria'Complex battle space'Mattis added it was the "most complex battle space" he had ever seen."We are working with Turkey for how we work this issue, and we will continue to work it forward," he said."There's no doubt that we are working with Turkey to try and address their concerns -- at the same time, defeat ISIS. And it's a very difficult job, I'll be the first to admit. But we're doing it. We're working it, and we're ranking it with Turkey, not against Turkey," Mattis added.Manbij roadmap must include regions east of Euphrates in SyriaTurkey has long criticized the U.S. for supporting the YPG/PKK terror group under the name of SDF, which is considered by Ankara as the Syrian offshoot of PKK.PKK has waged a more than 30-year terror campaign against the Turkish state that has resulted in some 40,000 deaths.Washington views the SDF as a "reliable partner" in its fight against Daesh and continues to provide it with arms and equipment in the face of strong objections by Turkey.Joint roadmap for Manbij is for stabilization: US
US defense secretary comments on Syria's Manbij talks