SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi border guard forces have set up four military bases in the Kurdistan Region’s province of Duhok to prevent Turkish forces from advancing deeper into Iraqi territory, a source told Esta Media Network.
A source in the Iraqi Border Guard Forces said the interior ministry had ordered establishing four bases against the Turkish forces stationed in the Kane Mase sub-district, northeast of Duhok.
The source further said one of the bases is located on the top of Hami height near Bigovaya community while the other is on Mount Badoke.
The third base is on the top of Maye height and the fourth is on the top of Binav height in the sub-district, the source added.
“More military bases will be established in the near future to prevent the Turkish army from further advancing into Iraqi territory and to reduce clashes between Turkey and the PKK,” the source told Esta Media Network, referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The Turkish military has established a dozen military bases in the Kurdistan Region’s border areas with Turkey as part of a military campaign against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
It set up three new military points in Amedi district last week amid operations against the PKK fighters, who Turkey says have safe havens in northern Iraq.
The Turkish military launched a new ground and air defensive against the PKK in Duhok on April 23. Turkish media reported that commando forces landed in the Metina region from helicopters.
Besides troop deployment, Turkish warplanes continue to bomb areas where suspected PKK positions are thought to be presence.
Turkey regularly carries out air and ground attacks against the PKK in northern Iraq. It says neither the Iraqi government nor the Kurdish government has taken measures to combat the group.
On Monday, the Iraqi foreign ministry summoned the charge d’affairs at the Turkish embassy in Baghdad to protest against Defense Minister Hulusi Akar’s visit to a Turkish base in northern Iraq.
Akar, accompanied by several military commanders, paid a visit to Turkey’s Bilic Tepe Base in the Kurdistan Region’s province of Duhok on Saturday evening, according to the Turkish ministry of defense.
Iraqi foreign ministry’s senior undersecretary Nizar al-Khairallah expressed the government’s “strong dissatisfaction and condemnation of the presence of Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar in Iraqi lands without coordination or prior approval from authorities.”
The Iraqi government’s note also denounced Akar’s meeting with Turkish forces that it says are in the country illegally, the statement said.
“The note also condemned the statements of the Turkish minister of interior regarding Turkey’s intention to establish a permanent military base in northern Iraq,” the ministry said.
“The Iraqi government categorically rejects the continuing violations of Iraqi sovereignty and sanctity of its lands and airspace by the Turkish military,” it added.
