ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Turkish government offered condolences to Iraq over the killing of two border guards as a result of shootings the Iraqi government blamed on fighters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on Friday.
"We are deeply saddened by the deaths of two border guards from the Iraqi Border Forces Command as a result of the attack carried out by the PKK terrorist organization in Duhok,” Oncu Keceli, spokesperson of Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, wrote on X on Saturday night.
Keceli added that they extend “condolences to the Iraqi people” and wished “a speedy recovery to the soldier wounded in the attack.”
"It is clear that the PKK terrorist organization poses a threat to the national security of Turkey and Iraq and violates Iraq's sovereignty,” the Turkish foreign ministry spokesperson said. "This latest attack has once again revealed the true face of the terrorist organization.”
Two Iraqi border guards were killed, and another one was injured on Friday when "the Iraqi border forces were carrying out their duty to secure the Iraqi-Turkish border in the Batufa sub-district, Zakho, Dohuk Governorate,” according to the Iraqi interior ministry.
The Turkish government official vowed they would continue to “jointly fight terrorism together with Iraq.”
The PKK is an armed group that has fought for increased Kurdish rights in Turkey for decades. The group, designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara, uses mountainous areas of the Kurdistan Region as shelter and often engages in direct armed conflict with Turkey.
The PKK has a large number of positions in the Kurdistan Region, including the Qandil headquarters. Turkey alike has military bases used to strike the group.
In a bit to establish security amid the PKK-Turkey crossfire, the Iraqi government in coordination with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has deployed federal guards along its border with Turkey.
Iraq officially in July 2024 rebranded the PKK to “Banned PKK” in all affairs of state, months after a high-level meeting between Ankara and Baghdad led the Iraqi side to criminalize the group officially.
Turkey has for years launched several rounds of an operation dubbed Claw Operation against positions of the PKK in the Kurdistan Region. The latest series of operations was launched in April 2022, dubbed Operation Claw Lock, which aims to end the group’s presence in the region.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year claimed that they were close to permanently “resolving” the PKK presence on the Turkey-Iraq border.
Civilians are frequently caught in the Turkey-PKK crossfire, bearing the brunt of the nearly four-decade-long war.
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