The Turkish government carried out several aerial strikes deep in northern Iraq between June 22 and 24, in retaliation for several Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attacks days before, the government conceded recently.
In a statement released by the Turkish government on Sunday, officials noted most of the targets were in the Qandil region, and that all nine targets were PKK hideouts.
There was criticism of the attacks in Iraq. Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, said peace was the only way to definitively end the conflict.
The PKK a designated terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, and has violently fought for an independent Kurdistan since its founding in 1984. It is estimated that tens of thousands of people, both Kurds and Turks, have died since the conflict began.
One of the latest incidents in the conflict occurred last Tuesday, when simultaneous attacks targeted three Turkish military bases, killing eight and wounding 19.
