Erdogan threatens to strike refugee camp inside Iraq

The rhetoric against Makhmour, a settlement where residents are overwhelmingly sympathetic to the Kurdistan Workers Party, could be part of a strategy to divert attention away from economic problems at home.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech after a signing ceremony with Libyan Government of National Unity Prime Minister at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on April 12, 2021.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech after a signing ceremony with Libyan Government of National Unity Prime Minister at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on April 12, 2021. - ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images
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Amberin Zaman
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to strike a refugee settlement in Iraqi Kurdistan on the grounds that it is a breeding ground for rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

In a live interview on the state-run TRT news channel, Erdogan said that if the United Nations did not “clean it up, we will do it as a UN member.”

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