Clashes with PKK terrorists in northern Iraq left one Turkish soldier and two terrorists dead, Türkiye’s Defense Ministry said Thursday.
Specialist Sgt. Cebrail Acar was “martyred in the Operation Claw-Lock” zone during a clash with members of the PKK terrorist organization, and two terrorists were eliminated during the engagement, the ministry said in a statement.
“We wish God’s mercy upon our esteemed martyr, who has caused us deep sorrow and grief, and we extend our condolences and patience to his grieving family, the Turkish Armed Forces, and our nation,” it said.
Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş also extended their condolences to the sergeant’s family in separate messages.
A ceremony was held late Thursday in the eastern Şırnak province, bordering Iraq, for the 33-year-old soldier before his body was sent to his hometown in the central city of Konya for burial.
The PKK is known for using northern Iraq, near the Turkish border, as a hideout to plot terrorist attacks and launch attacks both on nearby Türkiye and locals in northern Syria.
In its nearly 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.
Turkish military eliminated 1,327 PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Iraq and Syria, including 57 in the past week, ministry spokesperson Zeki Aktürk also said Thursday in a weekly briefing.
Aktürk said that 37 targets, including caves, bunkers, shelters, warehouses and facilities used by the terrorist organization were successfully destroyed in an air operation conducted on July 3 against terrorist targets in Metina, Gara, Hakurk, Qandil and Asos regions in northern Iraq.
“During the air operation, domestic and national ammunition was used to the maximum extent, and the impact assessment on the targets continues,” he added.
“Our fight against terrorism, which aims to eliminate threats starting beyond our borders, continues uninterrupted,” Aktürk said.
The PKK is not designated a terrorist organization in Iraq but is banned from launching operations against Türkiye from Iraqi territory. It nevertheless has a foothold in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous north controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), where the central Iraqi government has little influence.
Since Turkish operations have driven its domestic presence to near extinction, the PKK has moved a large chunk of its operations to northern Iraq, including a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains, located roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border in Irbil.
Türkiye has, over the past 25 years, operated several dozen military bases in northern Iraq in its war against the PKK and has been conducting airstrikes as part of its “Claw” operations since 2022 to demolish terrorist lairs and prevent the formation of a terrorist corridor along its borders.
Türkiye’s cross-border operations into northern Iraq have been a source of tension with its southeastern neighbor for years. Ankara has asked Iraq for more cooperation in combating the PKK and Baghdad labeled the group a banned organization in March.
