With heat from the United States, France and even Russia, Turkey is being discouraged from pursuing further action right now in northern Syria and is instead focusing on Iraq in its fight against Kurdish militants. In addition, with the Kurdish groups pulling out of Iraq's Sinjar region, Turkey no longer has an excuse to launch a military operation there — so Ankara for now has to be content with conducting low-profile military missions around other parts of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Since the end of March, Turkish commandos have been quietly putting up military outposts in the mountainous Sidekan area of Iraq, north of Hakurk, which is adjacent to the Qandil Mountains, where the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has its main headquarters. Turkey and other countries, including the United States, consider the PKK a terrorist organization.
