Nine Turkish soldiers have been killed and four others injured during clashes with militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) who attempted to infiltrate a Turkish base in northern Iraq. In a statement released early Saturday by the Turkish Ministry of Defense, 29 targets of the militants in northern Iraq and Syria were destroyed in airstrikes, which resulted in the deaths of a significant number of militants according to a Turkish military statement.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is holding an emergency security meeting this Saturday afternoon in Istanbul, as announced by the Presidency. The office of the Turkish President released a message through the X platform, declaring that the security meeting chaired by Erdoğan at the Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul includes the attendance of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yaşar Guler, and Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, along with the head of intelligence and the diplomatic advisor İbrahim Kalın.
Following the death of the Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq, the ruling Justice and Development Party and the main opposition party, the Republican People's Party, have decided to postpone the submission of their candidates for the municipal elections scheduled for March 31.
The Turkish Defense Ministry announced on Friday that four soldiers died from their injuries after an earlier report of five soldiers killed and eight wounded, three of whom were in serious condition, due to clashes with PKK operatives in the "Operation Claw-Lock" area in northern Iraq.
The ministry also indicated that the clashes resulted in the deaths of 15 PKK militants, which Ankara and its Western allies classify as a "terrorist" organization.
The Turkish military base is located near the "Matina" area in the far north of Iraq. In response to the attack, the Turkish authorities announced an ongoing military operation in the region.
This latest attack follows the deaths of 12 Turkish soldiers in late December in two separate attacks on Turkish military bases in northern Iraq.
The Turkish army regularly conducts ground and air military operations against PKK militants and their positions in northern Iraq, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and in the mountainous Sinjar region.
Ankara launched "Operation Claw-Lock" against PKK strongholds in the Matina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq on April 17, 2022.
Over the past 25 years, Turkey has established dozens of military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan to combat the PKK, which also has rear bases in the area.
The PKK, which has been waging an armed rebellion against Turkish authorities since 1984, claimed responsibility for an attack targeting the Ministry of Interior headquarters in Ankara last October, injuring two policemen.
