Turkey’s drive to establish a “security corridor” against Kurdish groups along its southern borders — all the way from Afrin in northwestern Syria to the Qandil mountains in northeastern Iraq — is unfazed despite military and political predicaments. Since mid-June, the Turkish military has been targeting Kurdish militant bases in northern Iraq in operations dubbed Claw-Eagle and Claw-Tiger, following operations Claw-1-2-3 conducted last year, along with Operation Peace Spring in the enclave between Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ain in Syria.

The ongoing onslaught against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has relied on bases in northern Iraq in its long-running armed campaign against Ankara, stands out from previous operations in terms of its implications on the ground and the reactions it has provoked. Turkey has targeted the PKK inside Iraq since the 1990s. 

The latest operation, launched June 15, saw Turkish forces quickly expand the number of their bases as tensions escalated with both the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which runs the area, and the central government in Baghdad.

The campaign targets not only the areas of Qandil, Zap, Avasin-Basyan, Gara and Hakurk, where PKK camps are located, but also the Yazidi-populated Sinjar and the Makhmour camp near Kirkuk, which is home to Kurdish refugees from Turkey. According to Kurdish sources, the Turkish forces have pushed forward 50 kilometers (30 miles) inside Iraqi Kurdistan, setting up 12 new bases and checkpoints. A map released by Turkey’s communication directorate July 6 shows a Turkish military presence at 37 sites, up from 24 in June.