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full screen Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Friday. Photo: Khalil Hamra/AP/TT
Turkey states that airstrikes have been carried out against Kurdish targets in northern Iraq.
According to the country’s defense ministry, at least 16 members of the terror-labeled PKK have been killed in a step towards “liberating Turkey from this problem”.
The attack comes weeks after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Iraq and sought cooperation there in the fight against the PKK. Iraq does not label the PKK a terrorist, but after Erdogan’s visit, the organization has been banned from operating in the country.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is labeled a terrorist by Turkey, the EU and the US. In 1984, the group took up arms against the Turkish state in its fight for independence in the area.