Iraqi MP: Turkish attacks intensify inside Iraq

BAGHDAD – Ali Al-Bandawi, a member of Iraqi Parliament’s Security and Defense Committee, stated on Wednesday that the increasing frequency of Turkish attacks inside Iraq might be a substitute for a widely discussed large-scale Turkish offensive. He suggested there might be an understanding between the Iraqi and Turkish governments, citing the absence of public condemnations from Iraq.

Al-Bandawi told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that Iraq has recorded approximately 1,000 Turkish attacks since the beginning of 2024. These operations include airstrikes, drone strikes, artillery shelling, and ground incursions extending up to 40 kilometers into Iraqi territory.

“This indicates a dangerous escalation in the frequency of Turkish operations inside Iraq,” Al-Bandawi said.

Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have recently threatened to launch a wide-scale military operation into the Kurdistan Region and other parts of northern Iraq in pursuit of the PKK.

Turkey reportedly plans to create a buffer zone of around 40 kilometers inside Iraqi territory to prevent PKK guerillas from infiltrating its borders.

The PKK is a Kurdish-armed opposition group that has been fighting Turkey for Kurdish rights for nearly four decades.