The air and ground attacks launched by Turkey against Metîna, Zap, Xakurkê, Avaşîn, Bradost, Heftanîn and Amêdiyê countryside in the Federated Kurdistan Region continue uninterruptedly. The attacks moved to a different stage at the beginning of July. Turkey expanded its attacks, started to establish checkpoints and started to build new bases. The attacks, for which the KDP provides all kinds of intelligence and logistical support, are not new. Turkey has been targeting these regions since 1983. Numerous “cross-border” operations have been carried out so far. 

 

DEEPENING THE DEADLOCK

 

While the duration of the attacks was limited in the past, the target changed with the attacks against the Garê region on February 10, 2021. Turkey started to settle in the region after the Garê attack. In this context, dozens of base zones were built. The KDP provided the biggest support in the construction of the base areas. The government officials who ordered the attacks promised “We will end it” at the beginning of each attack. However, this goal was never realized. After each attack, the country's economy has worsened and the Kurdish issue, one of the country's biggest issues, has deepened. 

 

FIRST 'CROSS-BORDER' ATTACK 

 

The first “cross-border” attacks were carried out in 1983. The attacks, carried out in partnership with the KDP and the Baghdad administration, yielded no results. The attacks started after the “Border Security and Cooperation Agreement” signed between the putschist Kenan Evren administration and Baghdad. Based on this agreement, the Turkish Armed Forces launched “Operation Hot Pursuit” on May 26, 1983. In the operation launched with 7 thousand soldiers, the TSK crossed the border by 5 kilometers. The intermittent attacks ended on June 2, 1983 with the withdrawal of the Turkish Armed Forces. 

 

Turkey's first airstrike in the region took place on August 15, 1986. On August 12, after 14 soldiers lost their lives in Çelê (Çukurca), 10 planes and 8,000 soldiers attacked the region from the ground and air. KDP camps were also targeted in these attacks and many pêşmerga and civilians lost their lives. The first reaction to the attacks came from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Iran harshly criticized Turkey's action and stated that Kurdish civilians were massacred in the attack.

 

Journalist Cahit Marwan

 

ÖZAL REDUCE THE INTENSITY OF WAR

 

In 1991, under the then President Turgut Özal, three cross-border attacks took place. In April 1991, during the attacks called “Broom”, many areas in the Federated Kurdistan Region, especially Xakûrkê, were heavily bombarded. In the second attack on August 5, a frontal battle between the ARGK and the TSK took place in the Durjî region for 15 days. Later, Özal called on PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan to “reduce the intensity of the war”.

 

INTELLIGENCE CAMPS ESTABLISHED

 

The KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (YNK) supported the attacks on October 11 and October 25, 1991. After the attacks, Turkey's intelligence camps started to be established on the Duhok-Zaxo-Hewlêr line. Afterwards, military camps were established. 

 

After this date, new attacks were organized on various dates. On October 12, 1992, a new attack was launched with approximately 15 thousand soldiers. The clashes that started after the air-supported attacks continued for 20 days. Heftanîn was heavily bombed during the attacks concentrated in the Xantûr Mountain region. After 20 days of fierce clashes, Turkey failed to achieve results.

 

BIGGEST ATTACK SINCE CYPRUS

 

On June 10, 1993, Zelê Camp was targeted; on February 6, 1994, Mezrê and Kariyêderî areas were targeted. On January 28, 1994, the Zelê area near Silêmaniyê was heavily attacked by Turkish warplanes. The Turkish Armed Forces then launched “Operation Steel” on March 21, 1995 with the participation of 35,000 personnel. Many regions, especially the Heftanîn region, were bombed by TAF warplanes. 64 soldiers lost their lives in the attacks. The operation called “Steel” was recorded as the biggest attack after the Cyprus operation.

 

ATTACK CARRIED ABROAD

 

On the night of April 5, 1996, “Operation Atmaca” was launched between the districts of Licê, Hênê (Hani), Pasûr (Kulp) and Dara Hênê (Genç). The attack was later moved across the border. 40 soldiers lost their lives in the attacks. In the “Operation Tokat” launched on June 14 in the same year, Botê, Sinat, Avaguzê, Birkê Evdal, Elagiş and Heftanîn regions were bombed by warplanes.

 

SADDAM'S PALACE USED AS HEADQUARTERS

 

The first attack of 1997 was launched under the name “Sledgehammer”. 50 thousand soldiers took part in the attacks that started on May 14, 1997. The attacks ended after two Turkish helicopters were shot down and the commanders lost their lives. The attacks lasted for 2 and a half months. Saddam Hussein's palace in Sersing was also used as a headquarters. According to official figures, 114 soldiers, including 13 officers, were killed in these attacks. 

 

In September 1997, a new “cross-border” attack was launched with 100 tanks and 10 thousand soldiers. The attacks were called “Hammer” and targeted Xakurkê. The attack, supported by the KDP, was inconclusive. After these attacks, military headquarters started to be established. Especially in Batufa, Kanî Masî, Bamêrnê and Şeladizê, many soldiers were deployed.

 

ATTACKS BETWEEN 1990-2007 

 

In the spring of 1998, an offensive called “Murat” was launched, this time with 40,000 troops. In 1999, Turkey launched a new offensive called “Operation Sandwich”. In addition, on May 4, 2000, the Turkish army headed towards Hêftanin together with the KDP, but had to withdraw 4 days later, on May 8. In December 2007, Turkey launched an attack with air support. The attacks, which mostly consisted of aerial bombardments, did not yield any results.

 

ZAP ATTACK

 

Between January 15 and February 4, 2008, warplanes bombed the Zap-Şîvê, Avaşîn-Basyan and Xakûrkê regions. Following these bombings, the Turkish Armed Forces launched 'Operation Sun' on February 21, 2008. The attacks continued until February 29th of the same year. 10 thousand soldiers crossed the border and participated in the operation, during which Zap, Xakûrkê and Avaşin were bombarded with artillery shells as well as fighter jets. The troops were also affected by the severe winter conditions in the Zap region and had to withdraw after a while. 

 

After Zap, Turkey's cross-border attacks became the subject of intense debate. 

 

BRADOST AND XAKÛRKÊ TARGETED

 

In May 2019, the Turkish Armed Forces expanded its operations, which started in Bradost in 2018, to the Xakurkê region. The Turkish Armed Forces did not stop there and launched a wide-scale operation in the Garê region on February 10, 2021. In the operation with 41 aircrafts, many helicopters, UCAVs and special units, 13 captured soldiers, police officers and members of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), including an Iraqi citizen, were killed. It was also announced that 3 soldiers who participated in the operation lost their lives.  

 

'CLAW' ATTACKS

 

After failing to achieve the desired result in Garê, a different operation was launched, this time on April 23rd. The operation, which coincided with the phone call between US President Joe Biden and AKP Chair and President Tayyip Erdoğan discussing the “Armenian Genocide”, this time targeted the Zap, Avaşîn and Metîna regions. In the ongoing operations in different areas under the names “Claw Eagle”, “Claw Tiger”, “Claw Lightning”, “Claw Thunderbolt”, developments such as the loss of lives, the KDP's open support for Turkey, the use of chemical weapons, the claim that a soldier was shot by his comrades while surrendering, village evacuations and ecological destruction have not fallen off the agenda.  

 

From the first day of the operation, KDP officials made statements supporting Turkey and blaming the PKK. After the operation began, Masrour Barzani, the Prime Minister of the Federated Kurdistan Regional Government, said: “This is an internal issue of Turkey that has been transferred to the Kurdistan Region, that is, it is a issue between the PKK and Turkey.” 

 

After a while, the KDP began deploying and massing forces on the roads leading to the areas where the operation was taking place. Special forces of the KDP killed 6 HPG members in an ambush in Xelîfan.  

 

MIGRATION AND ECOLOGICAL DESTRUCTION

 

There has also been serious ecological devastation in the operation zone where fierce clashes took place. Thousands of trees were burned to ashes in forest fires caused by the bombardment of warplanes, while thousands of acres of agricultural land were severely damaged. Ecological destruction was not limited to fires. Thousands of trees in the region were cut down for “security” and “road construction” reasons. 

 

USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS

 

After the 3rd month of the operation, Turkey's use of chemical weapons and poison gas has come to the agenda. Euphrates News Agency (ANF) has published numerous reports on the use of chemical weapons and poison gas in recent weeks. 

 

With the latest attacks, dozens of villages have been evacuated so far. According to a report by the Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), between June 15 and July 15 alone, 19 houses belonging to 19 families were destroyed by warplane bombardments. In addition, 9 villages were completely evacuated due to the attacks and 184 families were forced to migrate. 

 

MERVAN: FAR FROM VICTORY

 

Commenting on Turkey's long-standing offensive, journalist Cahit Marwan said: “The Turkish army has carried out countless military operations for 40 years. Sometimes it attacked with a force of 30-40 thousand people. However, it had to withdraw when it could not get results. Many times, it was hit hard militarily and could not hold on. They gave these military operations pompous names in order to gain psychological advantage. If you look at the headlines of Turkish newspapers since 1983, Zap and Qandil should have fallen at least 30 times. Actually, they were very eager in 2008. They made a military attack in the winter. They were planning to get results and become permanent. However, in the Zap war, which lasted for 9 days, they had to pull their forces out 'like pulling hair out of an oil drum', as Yaşar Büyükanıt, the Chief of General Staff at the time, put it. If the measure of success here is dropping a lot of bombs, burning and destroying, it is possible to say that they succeeded in this regard. But if the measure of success is breaking the will and resistance of the other side and achieving victory, they are far from it.”

 

'TURKEY WANTS TO BE PERMANENT'

 

Marwan said that Turkey aims to become permanent in the region with the attacks it launched in April 2022, and continued as follows: “Turkey wants to annex certain parts of Kurdistan. For this reason, for the last two years, it has been trying to capture and settle in the region by using all technical means. It is in full cooperation with the KDP in this regard. The KDP is opening space for the Turkish army to occupy and annex Southern Kurdistan. It shows the way. It offers unlimited logistical support. They were 'theorizing' about this before. But now KDP officials don't need to do that anymore. The operations ostensibly against the PKK are in fact seriously destroying the status of Federated Kurdistan. In addition to the military operations, the economic, political and cultural 'cooperation' is turning Kurdistan into a 'province' annexed by Turkey. This is the goal. However, the job is still not done, the issue is not finalized. Henry Kissinger, the former US Secretary of State, has a very interesting opinion about such situations: 'Tactical successes cannot prevent your strategic defeat.' I think this is the situation Turkey is facing in the South (Federated Kurdistan), North and East Syria.”

 

MA / Delal Akyüz