Turkey says it killed 19 PKK fighters in Kurdistan Region

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - The Turkish military announced on Friday that it had killed 19 fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that day in rural mountainous border areas inside the Kurdistan Region.

"The terrorists were neutralized by airstrikes carried out in the Zap, Gara, and Hakurk regions," said a statement as reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Turkish forces have fought the PKK since the early 1980s in a conflict that has resulted in the death of over 40,000 people on both sides. The group is designated as a ‘terrorist’ organization by Turkey, the European Union (EU), and the US.

In recent months, Turkish forces have stepped up military action against PKK fighters within the Kurdistan Region, including building outposts and military access roads. They have crossed into the region up to 20 kilometers deep in some areas to target the Kurdish guerilla fighters, and bombardment from Turkish jets occasionally result in the death of civilians unaffiliated to the PKK.

The KRG has repeatedly told Ankara to cease airstrikes within the Kurdistan Region and has been critical of the PKK for using its territory as a base from which to conduct operations within Turkey.

“Why has Turkey crossed the border [of the Kurdistan Region]? What is the reason? There is a reason,” Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said during a press conference in late March.

“The Kurdistan Region has a principle. The Region in no way would allow its soil to be used to attack or make conflict with neighboring countries. This principle includes attacks on Turkey, Iran, Syria or any other countries."

Turkish cross-border attacks continue regularly, as do those by both sides within Turkey.