ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed vengeance for a soldier who was killed during Ankara’s recent operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region, stating that his country soon will “put an end to terror.”
Turkey has deployed a large number of troops in Duhok province since mid June, causing an escalation in Ankara’s decades-long war against the PKK. On Saturday, the Turkish defense ministry announced the death of Abdullah Cem Demirkan, a Turkish army officer who succumbed to his wounds sustained in a landmine explosion in the Kurdistan Region on July 12.
Erdogan said Ankara will avenge Demirkan, and all their losses in the region: “We are avenging all these losses. They are paying a very heavy price and will continue to do so.
“Our fight against terrorism will continue to the end. Eventually, God willing, we will be the victors. The end is near for them,” adding that Turkey will eradicate “terrorism” at its root.
He added: “No matter what they do, they will not find benefit. They are being held accountable for what they have put the people of this country through, one way or another.”
The Iraqi government has condemned the Turkish incursion into the Kurdistan Region. On July 12, Iraq’s National Security Council met to reject the “violations by Turkish forces in the shared border areas” and reiterated their opposition to Ankara’s military incursions in the Kurdistan Region in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani.
The PKK is a pro-Kurdish group that has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for decades in the struggle for greater Kurdish and minority rights and is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara. Baghdad listed the PKK as a “banned” organization earlier this year.
Despite Ankara’s claims of targeting PKK fighters in the Kurdistan Region, the operations have caused the displacement of families and the evacuation of several villages in the border areas.
The US-based Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a rights group that closely monitors the Turkey-PKK conflict, published a new report on Tuesday, stating that nine villages have been “completely” emptied and 184 families have been displaced since the tensions began mid-June.
“Eight of the villages are located in the Amedi district with one located in the Batifa district,” the group said.
“Approximately 68,000 dunams of land have been burned,” it added.
Earlier this year, Erdogan repeatedly said Turkey was planning a military campaign in the Kurdistan Region to “secure” the border.
