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Turkey mulls permanent military presence in northern Iraq

Turkey is considering setting up additional military infrastructure in Iraqi Kurdistan as its operations against militants there continue.
Turkish army tanks control the centre of the old medieval Kurdish town of Ammadiya, July 13. 2004. Turkish forces entered Iraq's Kurdish zone in 1997 under a year-long agreement with Kurdish authorities to pursue militants from a Turkish Kurd rebel group, but with their territory now part of a newly sovereign Iraq, Kurds feel the Turks may have overstayed their welcome. Picture taken July 13, 2004. REUTERS/Sasa Kralj  RCS/DBP - RP5DRICSWDAA

Turkey is planning to maintain a permanent presence in northern Iraq in the aftermath of the ongoing land and air operations against the Kurdish militants there, security sources told Al-Monitor. Turkey’s Operation Claw against outlawed Kurdish militants Iraqi Kurdistan’s northern Hakurk region has been going on for nearly a month.

Hakurk is located on some 32,000 acres next to the Mount Qandil, the strategic headquarters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The Kurdish peshmerga cannot control this area because of its rough terrain and harsh weather conditions. Turkey has said it has so far killed or captured 51 PKK militants and destroyed more than 100 shelters and logistics facilities in the region. Turkey along with most Western powers consider the PKK a terrorist organization.

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