Decades-Old Turkish/PKK Conflict Heats Up

Alex Kautza

A conflict between Turkey and the PKK--a Kurdish separatist group classified as a terrorist organization by most world powers--has been rekindled in the past few weeks after both sides have taken militant actions. The PKK killed 11 Turkish soldiers and militiamen in mid-August; Turkey swiftly retaliated with sweeping air-raids of the PKK’s bases in Northern Iraq. The bombing of 124 bases in Northern Iraq has served only to escalate already uneasy tensions between the neighboring countries. After the attacks, Iraq’s foreign ministry requested a visit from a Turkish ambassador, concluding that the bombings showed blatant disregard for the sovereignty of the Iraqi state, and that no further unilateral military action would be tolerated. The Iraqi foreign ministry did express (with an undisclosed measure of sincerity) its commitment to exploring all bilateral solutions to the operations of the PKK in Northern Iraq.  Subsequent meetings between Iraqi president Jalal Talabini and Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirioglu have further solidified Iraq’s adamant opposition to Turkey’s use of force against PKK groups; Talabini asserts that force simply “won’t help,” and espouses negotiation as the most effective step toward ending the nearly thirty-year-old conflict. 

Turkey is not only employing aggressive tactics, but also strategic commercial measures in an effort to establish its effectiveness and enhance its defense capabilities in the region. While the Turks are bombing northern Iraq, they are investing in southern Iraq. Iraq is seeking to build a new port on the Al-Faw Peninsula, almost within arm’s length of a rival Kuwaiti port construction project. Iran, who is also fighting militant Kurdish factions, has benefited from delays in both projects, but with Turkish companies leading the investment charge in the Iraqi project, Turkey has positioned itself well for future conflict-related relations with Iraq, all while gaining relative stability and power over Iran in the region. The Turkish-PKK conflict has been flaring up since its beginning in 1984, and with this breath of new life, the death toll of over 30,000 is once again climbing.