The Impact of Turkey’s Anti-Terror Operations on PKK Activities

The Turkish military will conclude its counterterrorism Operation Claw-Lock against the PKK terrorists on the border with Iraq this summer, the Defense Ministry recently said on 18 April 2024. Türkiye’s anti-terror operations are persisting at full speed, in a way that will undermine the PKK from carrying out any aggression, Defense Ministry spokesperson Zeki Aktürk briefed. Aktürk also expressed the Turkish military eliminated 75 PKK/YPG terrorists in the past two weeks, including those masking across the border in northern Iraq and Syria.

A total of 748 terrorists have been eradicated, with 331 in northern Iraq and 417 in northern Syria since Jan. 1. Turkish officers use the term “eliminated” to suggest the terrorists in question surrendered, were destroyed or captured. 

In its nearly 40-year terror movement against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S., and the EU – has been answerable for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and babies. The PKK has undertaken attacks killing more than a dozen Turkish soldiers in the past two months in northern Iraq, a high toll that only advanced Turkish operations in the region.

Türkiye has over the past 25 years employed several dozen military bases in northern Iraq in its battle against the PKK, as well as the war against Daesh, which governed much of the area, in 2014 and 2015, when Ankara was a partner in the U.S.-led anti-Daesh campaign.

Operation Claw-Lock was projected in April 2022 as part of Ankara’s strengthening offensives to demolish terrorist lairs across Metina, Avashin-Basyan, Zap and Gara districts and stop the formation of a terror passage along Turkish borders. The PKK also currently inhabits Sinjar, Makhmour, Qandil and Sulaymaniyah in the region, which Türkiye says endangers the territorial integrity of Iraq but neither Baghdad nor Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) identify the PKK as a terror group officially and Turkish strikes remain a prickly issue between the neighbours.

Turkish officials have repeatedly insisted Iraq, as well as the KRG, recognize the PKK as a terrorist group, ensuring Türkiye’s respect for Iraq’s sovereignty and pledge to only target terrorists. In recent months, the Turkish defence minister and intelligence chiefs paid visits to Baghdad and Irbil to examine security cooperation, which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has hailed as having “softened the mood” after the killing of Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq but the grounds the PKK has been accumulating in KRG-run Sulaymaniyah through the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is still problematic for Ankara.

Regarding unlawful border crossings into Türkiye, Aktürk stated 373 people, including 11 members of terror organizations, were arrested while attempting to cross in the last two weeks.

Another, 4,784 people were stopped from crossing. “The number of people caught while endeavouring to cross our borders illegally since Jan. 1 has risen to 2,485. The number of people who have been stopped from crossing the border without success has surpassed 46,305,” he said.

Aktürk emphasised that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) continued successful assignments in various geographies within the framework of bilateral connections and international missions.

Türkiye’s TCG Bandırma and the German Navy’s FGS Baden Württember frigates operated transit training, while two U.S. Air Force B-1B aircraft and Turkish F-16s performed aerial refueling and Joint Attack Controller training.

Additionally, the Olives Noires-2024 exercise program in France, Sea Shield-2024 in Romania and Desert Flag-9/2024 activities in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) are ongoing, according to Aktürk. Türkiye’s National Anatolian Eagle Training, which started April 15, is currently in progress, he expressed. A Confidence-Building Measures Meeting will be carried out in Athens with the participation of representatives from Greece and Türkiye, the spokesperson added.

Share this page:

Related content

Türkiye’s counterterrorism efforts eliminate over 270 PKK/YPG militants

Türkiye’s counterterrorism efforts eliminate over 270 PKK/YPG militants

Turkish Defense Ministry said that its security forces have eliminated a total of 278 PKK terrorists so far in 2025. Ministry spokesperson Rear Adm. Zeki Aktürk said, “In the past…
Turkey arrests 100 Daesh suspects in counterterrorism operations

Turkey arrests 100 Daesh suspects in counterterrorism operations

Turkey arrested 100 suspected members of the Daesh terrorist outfit in the past week, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced. The Turkish authorities’s operations, called “Gurz-41” and “Gurz-42,” were conducted…
Turkish security forces arrested 25 suspects linked to FETÖ

Turkish security forces arrested 25 suspects linked to FETÖ

The Turkish security forces arrested 25 suspects accused of ties to the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) and ISIS. Sources indicated there were operations conducted in five provinces to combat terror…