DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — Tensions are flaring between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the main political group ruling Iraqi Kurdistan, and armed Kurdish militants from Turkey who are based in the region, rekindling fears of renewed intra-Kurdish fighting amid growing Turkish military pressure on the militants.
Lying at the core of the tensions are escalating Turkish cross-border operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has long used mountainous bases in Iraqi Kurdistan in its armed campaign against Ankara since 1984. On June 5, a unit of Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces attempted to move into an area in the Metina mountain range near the town of Amedi in Dahuk province. Five peshmergas were killed and seven others injured in what Iraqi Kurdistan authorities described as a PKK ambush. The group denied responsibility, claiming its militants had only fired warning shots in the air and a mine explosion or an airstrike might have caused the deaths. A sixth peshmerga was killed near Zakho in the same province three days later, with local officials blaming the attack on PKK snipers.
In a series of military operations since mid-2019, the Turkish military has sought to curb the PKK’s ability to move between its camps in Iraqi Kurdistan, which are spread on a long stretch from the Qandil Mountains on the Iranian border to the Syrian frontier to the west. Turkish forces have set up dozens of checkpoints and bases to prevent PKK infiltrations into Turkey and cut off the group’s main camp areas in the region. The PKK has accused the KDP of colluding with Turkey and resisted attempts by peshmerga forces to deploy to or encircle areas under its control. In late April, following the launch of the latest phase in the operations, Turkey’s interior minister said Turkish forces would establish a base in Metina.
The deadly incidents marked the most serious escalation between the PKK and the KDP since an armed standoff in spring 2020 over control of the strategically important area of Zine Werte that involved also the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the KDP’s main political rival — the PUK has been on better terms with the PKK. Subsequently, the Turkish military bombed a PKK post in the area, and the PKK accused the KDP of sharing the post's location with Turkey.
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