Kurdistan: Dozens Killed in Turkish Airstrikes against PKK

At least 55 PKK militants were killed when Turkish warplanes hit their positions in northern Iraq overnight on Saturday, Reuters reported. The jets took off from a base in Diyarbakr, southeast Turkey.

Meanwhile, Dogan News Agency reported today that at least 85 PKK militants were killed last Tuesday after Turkish planes targeted the militants in Turkey’s southeastern province of Tunceli and the Iraqi Kurdish area of Sinat-Haftanin.

The Kurdish regions in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq have been hit by waves of fighting between Turkish security forces and PKK militants since Turkey broke a two-year ceasefire in July.

File photo: Turkish F-16 (Wikipedia)

Turkish Military Campaign against Kurds Intensifies

As Turkey launched heaviest airstrikes yet on PKK positions in the Kurdish region spanning southeast Turkey and northern Iraq, the militants today attacked Turkish security forces in two separate assaults, killing five. Turkey began its airstrikes last week, shattering a 2.5-year truce with Kurdish militants who seek autonomy for the Kurdish regions of the country.

Today, the leader of pro-Kurdish opposition HDP party, which won a surprisingly large number of seats in Turkish parliamentary elections on 7 June, accused Erdogan’s ruling party of dragging the country into conflict in revenge for losing its majority in the parliament, largely due to impressive HDP showing.

Selahattin Demirtas, the HDP leader, also said that Turkey’s recent airstrikes in northern Syria, under the cover of targeting Islamic State militants, were largely meant to prevent the Syrian Kurds to establish a contiguous Kurdish region in northern Syria. The PYG, the Syrian Kurdish militants, have been leading the fight against ISIL in Syria, since they famously defeated ISIL in Kobane, and have recently retaken territories in northeast Syria occupied by ISIL. Having a contiguous region in Syria is a crucial step in establishing an autonomous Kurdish region on Turkish border, something Turkey violently opposes.

File photo: A missile-loaded Turkish Air Force warplane over Incirlik Air Base in Adana, Turkey; 28 July 2015 (Emrah Gurel/AP)

Turkey Blocks Kurdish Websites

More Than 600 People Arrested Since Friday

Turkey has blocked a number of Kurdish and left-wing news websites as Turkish fighter jets continued to bomb Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) headquarters in northern Iraq, Hurriyet Daily News reported today. The blocked websites include Rudaw, BasNews, DIHA, ANHA, daily Ozgur Gundem, Yuksekova Haber, Sendika.Org, and RajNews. 

Turkish airstrikes against PKK began on Saturday, breaking a 2.5-year truce between the Kurdish militants and Turkish military.

Also, more than 600 people have been detained by the police since launching a series of raids against suspected PKK members and sympathizers in multiple provinces on 24 July.

Meanwhile, users are experiencing difficulty accessing Twitter and Facebook since yesterday, when the Turkish airstrikes against the Kurds began.

Turkey Attacks PKK

Breaking 2.5-Year Truce with Kurds

Turkish warplanes on Friday struck camps and weapons storage facilities belonging to the Kurdish Workers Party or PKK at its Mount Qandil headquarters in Iraqi Kurdistan. The airstrikes ended a two-and-a-half-year truce between PKK, representing Turkey’s Kurds, and the Turkish military. The truce was considered a signature achievement for Erdogan’s government, but as observed by the PKK it “has no meaning anymore.”

The events culminating with the Turkish airstrikes began after an Islamic State suicide bomber killed 30 Kurds in southern Kurdish town of Suruc last week. PKK has long accused Turkey of cooperating with ISIL and it carried out retaliatory shootings against Turkish police.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Kurds led by the PKK-affiliate militia group YPG, who famously fought and defeated ISIL in Kobane, are engaged in fierce fighting with ISIL in Syria, and in recent weeks have captured enough territory previously held by ISIL to enable them to form a contiguous Kurdish territory in northern Syria, a key to formation of an autonomous Kurdish region. Turkey worries that YPG advances could strengthen PKK’s position inside Turkey.

On Friday, Turkey also struck ISIL positions in Syria for the first time in the war. The Kurdish critics of Erdogan government said the attacks on ISIL were a smokescreen to hit PKK positions and silence any U.S. criticism.   

File photo: Turkish F-16 (Osman Orsal/Reuters)

Kurdish Forces Capture Tel Abyad, Syrian Border Town

Kurdish YPG forces today captured the Syrian town of Tel Abyad on the Turkish border, striking a major blow to ISIL insurgents who had held the town and its border crossing for more than a year, The New York Times reported. Kurdish commanders took control of the town on Tuesday. They are now clearing booby-traps and mines planted by ISIL throughout the city. ISIL had used Tel Abyad border crossing to smuggle in fighters and materiel into its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa.

YPG, which in January led the liberation of Kobane, and their Arab allies, brought down the black flag of ISIL and raised their own flag in the city center. Capturing the town now allows the Syrian Kurds to link different parts of predominantly Kurdish territories in northern Syria, a major step in creating an autonomous Kurdish regional government in the country.

It was unclear if Turkey would allow YPG to use the Tel Abyad border crossing to bring in badly needed supplies. People’s Protection Units (YPG) is an offshoot of Turkey's Kurdish PKK, which has been battling Turkish forces during a 30-year insurgency.

YPG's advance toward Tel Abyad last week was facilitated by intense U.S.-led airstrikes against ISIL positions in and around the city.

Photo credit: A Turkish soldier watched Tuesday as the flag of YPG was raised over the city of Tel Abyad, Syria. The town is on the Turkish border. (Lefteris Pitarakis/AP)

Kurdistan Sets 20 August Date for Presidential Election

Kurdish President Masoud Barzani has set 20 August date for the Kurdish region’s presidential election, KRG Presidency chief of staff Fuad Hussein announced today. Barzani has called for free and fair election in Kurdistan, Hussein said. (USA Today, 13 June)

File photo: Kurdish President Masoud Barzani (Oren Dorell/USA Today)

Mahabad on Edge

On Monday, Farinaz Khosravani, a 25-year old chambermaid at Tara Hotel in Mahabad, the historic and cultural center of the Iranian Kurdistan, lost her life after jumping from the fourth floor of the hotel, allegedly to avoid sexual advances by a senior member of Mahabad branch of the ministry of information, Iran's intelligence service. The police, however, announced on Saturday the arrest of a suspect in Farinaz's death, saying the suspect had no connection to the intelligence or security forces. 

Reports on Twitter and other social media indicate that tensions are still high in Mahabad. On Thursday, the police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters from the area in front of the hotel, and moments later some of the protesters torched the hotel. Thousands of people later marched on the streets of Mahabad after a call from women's rights activists to protest Farinaz's death.

Now the police hope today’s announcement of the arrest of the suspect would return calm to the city. Some reports on the Twitter today indicate that the public might not accept the police explanation.

UPDATE: Rudaw reports that security forces have withdrawn from the area around the hotel to avoid further inflaming public anger. An official inside Mahabad mayor's office told Rudaw that "protecting people's lives was more important than the hotel." (Rudaw, 9 May)  

Photos credit: Mahabad's Protests and Tara Hotel burning (Rudaw/Twitter)

ISIL Launches Major Assault Near Erbil - UPDATE

UPDATE (Wednesday 18FEB15): The Peshmerga drive back ISIL assault near Erbil allowing air strikes to begin.

The Islamic State insurgents launched a major assault on an area near the Kurdish towns of Gwer and Makhmour, some 45 km (28 miles) from the Kurdish capital of Erbil. The attack started at 9 p.m. local time on Tuesday (1 p.m. EST). The sophisticated nighttime assault came from several directions. (CNN, 17 February)

Coalition aircraft were in the area, but they had so far been unable to fire on ISIL units because of the close proximity of ISIL insurgents and Peshmerga defenders.

Kurdish officials were quoted by CNN as saying they were concerned ISIL fighters could break through their lines. If that happens, there would be little standing between ISIL and the Kurdish capital.

The Peshmerga forces recently have been trying to surround Mosul to cut off ISIL’s lines of communication from Syria and ISIL could be attacking near Erbil to draw already stretched Kurdish forces in many different directions to relieve pressure on Mosul, CNN said.

File photo: The citadel and the City Park in the center of the Kurdish capital of Erbil (Reuters)

Coalition against Islamic State Faces Long War – Kurdish PM

Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday that despite recent victories in the war against ISIL, the global coalition fighting the group could face a long war. Barzani added there was little chance of defeating the insurgents so long as the civil war rages in Syria, Iraq’s army continues to exist more on paper than on the ground, and Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq remain woefully under-armed.

“This is a long war. They control more than 15 million people in Iraq and Syria,” said Barzani. “Islamic State has now been contained and controlled but it is still able to carry attacks.” (Reuters, 29 January)

Meanwhile, a senior Kurdish commander was killed in Kirkuk on Friday during a major attack by ISIL. The assault on areas south and west of Kirkuk began at around midnight that was still ongoing Friday morning.

Peshmerga Brig. Gen. Shirko Rauf and fine other members of the Kurdish security forces were killed in clashes, and nearly 50 injured. The Kirkuk security officials announced a curfew beginning 10:00 am (0700 GMT) on Friday, saying it will be in effect until further notice. (Reuters, 30 January)

File photo: Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani speaking at the Iraq-Kurdistan Oil and Gas Conference; Erbil. December 2013 (Azad Lashkari/Reuters)

Kurdish Flag Over Kubane Hillside

Kurdish fighters raise flag over Kobane hillside (above), where ISIL banner was destroyed in a U.S.-led airstrike last week (below).

Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images

U.S.-led Coalition Jets Strike ISIL Positions in Kobane

U.S.-led coalition jets pounded Islamic State targets in Kobane on Saturday. There were a total of six airstrikes against ISIL today. Earlier in the day the Islamic State shelled the city’s center and hit border areas within Turkey.

YPG Kurdish fighters, with help of U.S.-led strikes, are holding out against the Islamic State for more than a month of valiant defense of their city. Kobane is already being compared to Stalingrad and that city’s heroic defense against the Nazis. 

ISIL’s shelling of border areas with Turkey appears to be an attempt to cut off Kobane’s last link with Turkey.

“They want to cut off Kobane’s connection with the rest of the world,” said Dicle, an YPG spokesperson. “Turkey is not allowing in fighters or weapons, but they send aid at Mursitpar (border crossing). The Islamic State wants to destroy this gate so that we will be completely trapped here.” (Reuters, 18 October)

Photo credit: Smoke and flames rise over Kobane after U.S.-led airstrike against Islamic State positions in the city. The photo is taken from Muritpinar border crossing. (Reuters)