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Turkey is ready to help Iraq clear PKK terrorists from Sinjar, says Turkey’s DM

January 20, 2021 at 1:47 pm

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar in Ankara, Turkey on 14 December 2020 [Arif Akdoğan/Anadolu Agency]

Turkey is ready to provide assistance to clear terrorists from Iraq’s Sinjar district, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said Wednesday, Anadolu reports.

“Turkey always cooperates with Iraq to provide support for eliminating terrorists in Iraq’s Sinjar region if necessary,” Akar said following his official visit to Iraq.

The defence minister also noted that cooperation between Ankara and Baghdad, as well as Ankara and Erbil, will lead to important developments in terms of the fight against terrorism.

Following his official meetings in Baghdad, the defence minister held separate meetings on 19 January with Northern Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government’s (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, former President of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region Masoud Barzani and current President Nechirvan Barzani.

In 2014, the PKK managed to establish a foothold in Sinjar, while Daesh was conducting attacks against the Yazidi communities of the region.

More than 40,000 people have died in clashes between the PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US, and the EU, and the Turkish state over the past 40 years.

READ: Barzani: ‘PKK did not leave Sinjar, brought additional forces from Syria’