Turkey's Interior Minister: "We launched a joint operation with Iran against PKK this morning"

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu announced Turkey conducted a joint operation with Iran against PKK this morning
Monday, 18 March 2019 15:05

Turkey's interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, made a recent announcement saying that Turkey and Iran jointly conducted a military operation against PKK this morning, March 18, at 8 am. 

"From now on, terrorist organizations in the mountains will not be able to come out. 15 days ago, I said we were going to have a joint operation with Iran. For the first time in our history. We went to Tehran 2-3 times. They came, too. This morning at 8 am on the eastern border with Iran, we launched joint operations against the PKK. We will announce the results," the minister said.

As Turkey's local elections to be held on March 31 approaches, Turkish government officials claimed that Turkey and Iran were planning to conduct such a operation against Kurdish militants along the border. Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long armed conflict in Turkey, is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey.

Before the June 24 general elections in Turkey, Soylu had also made announcements of joint operations on the Qandil Mountains, but the plans had not been realized. 

Joint action against Kurdish militants has long been on the agenda for the AKP government, while Iran has been cautious in its comments about an operation. Turkey's claims were denied by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) before.