ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Turkey’s Ministry of Defense announced in the early hours of Sunday that a member of its armed forces was killed in the ongoing operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the mountainous areas of the Kurdistan Region.

The ministry stated that the soldier, Onder Ozen, was killed after “stepping on a mine/IED, during the search and sweep operations carried out in the Claw Operation region in northern Iraq.”

On April 23, Turkey announced the death of another soldier in clashes with PKK fighters along the border areas of the Kurdistan Region.

These incidents occur at a time when Ankara and the PKK are engaged in peace negotiations, after their jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan called on them to lay down arms, in a historical address in late February.

For years, Turkey has launched several rounds of operations dubbed the Claw Operation against PKK positions in the Kurdistan Region. The latest series of operations, Operation Claw Lock, began in April 2022 and aimed to end the group’s presence in the region.

The PKK is an armed group that has fought for increased Kurdish rights in Turkey for decades. Designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara, the group uses the mountainous areas of the Kurdistan Region as shelter and frequently engages in direct armed conflict with Turkey.