Turkey deploys two thousands Jandarma and agents to Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province

21-07-2020 04:28
A Turkish base in Avashin area of Kurdistan's Bahdinan region. Photograph: Getty Image/Anadolu

By Peregraf

Turkey has deployed two thousand additional soldiers and National Intelligence Organization (MIT) agents to its military bases in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (KRI) province of Duhok to partake in the military operation against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Turkey has launched the Claw-Eagle operation against the guerrillas of the PKK in the Bahdinan areas, Duhok province, since mid-June. The operation began with airstrikes and later included ground attacks in several domains in Bahdinan. Clashes are still erupting between the Turkish forces and the PKK’s guerrillas.

A source, who is familiar with the Turkish military bases in Duhok, spoke to Peregraf on the bases. “There are nearly 20 Turkish military bases in Bahdinan, where Turkish Jandarama [Turkish forces] have been stationed.”

A number of the Turkish bases were built during the Kurdish civil war in the mid-1990s, when they were deployed to the Kurdistan Region to back the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) against the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). However, the Turkish forces did not withdraw after the war and have remained since then.

The source claimed that the largest Turkish military base in the KRI is called Barokhi, which is located near Kani Masi sub-district in Bahdinan, 30 km deep into Duhok province.

In Barokhi base, Turkey “has stationed more than a thousand and 500 Jandarma and MIT agents as it is a strategic place.”

Turkey has violated Iraqi sovereignty on the pretext of fighting the PKK and has been increasing its military bases in the country.

More than 400 Jandarma and agents of Turkey, with heavy troops, have been stationed at the airport of Bamarni sub-district in Amidi district, according to the source.

Despite the Iraqi government’s warnings and summoning the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad twice, Ankara insists on attacking the PKK on the Iraqi Kurdistan soil and claims that it will establish additional military bases.

Turkey and PKK fights have intensified in the Haftanin area.

The source revealed that another 11 Turkish military bases exist in Haftanin mountain, extending from Golle area and Sndi in Zakho district to the boundary of Barzan region.

The source said that, “among the military bases, a border crossing has been opened only for military movements of Turkey,”, adding that the border crossing is located in Kani Masi in the Kurdistan Region.

The areas where Turkey has conducted the operations are mountainous, using different tanks and aircrafts, including drones to target the guerrillas of the PKK.

The names and the location of the Turkish military bases in the KRI; in Bahdinan area, Batofa military base in Batofa sub-district in Zakho district, Kribi and Gali in Zakho district, Sinki and Siriy in Barzan area, Qomri in Barwari Bala, Kopki, Kokhi Spi and Dari in Amidi and another intelligence base inside Amidi, despite several other bases in other areas in Iraq such as Bashiqa base in Nineveh plains.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is yet to demonstrate an explicit stance against Ankara’s violations and has called on PKK to leave the region and move its conflicts with Turkey to northern Kurdistan [Turkish Kurdistan].

Murad Qaralyan, head of the People’s Defense Forces (HPG) and a senior leader of the PKK, has informed PKK’s affiliated media that Turkey plan is to invade the Iraqi Kurdistan and if Turkey invades any area, it will pay a heavy price for it.

PKK guerillas have moved to the KRI boundaries since the Iraqi Kurdish civil war in the 1990s and have also fought the Iraqi Kurdish parties. As a result of their increasing deployment to the region, they have occupied a wider area.

The area of PKK rule, called Harmi Parastni Midiya, is located in Qandil in the Zagraous mountains, which share border with southern, northern and eastern Kurdistan in Iraq, Turkey and Iran, respectively.

Qandil is an intense mountainous region, which has been the stronghold of the different Kurdish movements. The inaccessibility of the area makes it strategic to the PKK as neither the Iraqi government nor the KRG has access to it.

The Kurdistan Region’s parliament voted on a bill to expel the Turkish troops from the region; however, it was not implemented.

The Turkish attacks since 1996 have caused the evacuation of approximately 400 villages in Bahdinan area, displacing thousands of people and wounding and killing tens of others civilians as a result of the bombardments.

Besides the bombardments in Qandil, Turkish drones have also targeted PKK members in various areas across the KRI in the recent years, including Sulaimani, Zini Warte and Makhmour refugee camp.