Skip to main content

Turkey could leverage hostage tragedy to reach Sinjar

After the deaths of 13 Turkish captives in Iraqi Kurdistan during a raid against Kurdish militants, Turkey might be weighing an offensive against Sinjar, but vocal objections by pro-Iranian groups heavily deployed in the area are bound to complicate such a mission.
The coffins of three Turkish military personnel killed in action are carried during funeral prays at the Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque in Ankara on February 12, 2021. - The three soldiers Lt. Burak Coskun, Lt. Ertug Guler and Sgt. First Class Harun Turhan were killed during clashes with Kurdish militants in northern Iraq's Gara region as part of the Eagle Claw 2 operation by the Turkish military against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty I
Read in 

Turkey’s latest cross-border raid has failed, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems determined to make use of the killings of 13 Turkish citizens whose remains were discovered in a cave in the Gare region in northern Iraq, where outlawed Kurdish militants are based. 

The question of why the Turkish government had taken no action to rescue the hostages held by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) over the past five years despite numerous pleas by their families has gone unanswered. Yet Erdogan has already turned the tragic incident into a propaganda tool in both domestic and international politics. 

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.