The joint Claw-Eagle and Claw-Tiger operations (

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

: Pençe-Kartal Operasyonu ''and'' Pençe-Kaplan Operasyonu) was a Turkish Armed Forces external operation in northern Iraq. The operation took place in the Qandil Mountains, the Sinjar District, and Makhmur, against

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...

(PKK) targets, as part of the ongoing Kurdish–Turkish and Kurdish–Iranian conflicts. Claw-Eagle, the air campaign, began on 15 June 2020. Claw-Tiger, the ground campaign, was launched on 17 June.

Background

As part of the 2013–2015 peace talks, the

agreed to move most of its fighters to the

mountains A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...

in Iraqi Kurdistan. The Turkish Armed Forces also established bases in Iraq which sparked regional and international condemnation. The conflict reignited once more in June 2015, accompanied by ongoing Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War and harassment of Kurdish parties in Turkey.

Operation Claw-Eagle

Turkish Armed Forces bombed Sinjar and destroyed multiple PKK camps near

Yezedi Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. T ...

villages. According to the locals, there were fears of

ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal, extermination, deportation or population transfer ...

and genocide by the Turkish State towards Yezidi's. The Turkish government claimed that fighter jets destroyed caves in the Qandil Mountains used by the PKK. The airstrikes also struck near Makhmour refugee camp, which hosts thousands of

Turkish Kurd The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Turkey. According to various estimates, they compose between 15% and 20% of the population of Turkey.; ; Sandra Mackey , “The reckoning: Iraq and the legacy of Saddam”, W.W. Norton and Company ...

refugees who fled the conflict in the 1990s, as well as Yezidi villages in Sinjar. The Turkish Ministry of National Defense released a video of the airstrikes, claiming 81 targets were destroyed. On 25 June, a drone strike killed one or two PKK fighters outside a shop in

Kuna Masi Kuna may refer to: Places * Kuna, Idaho, a town in the United States ** Kuna Caves, a lava tube in Idaho * Kuna Peak, a mountain in California * , a village in the Orebić municipality, Croatia * , a village in the Konavle municipality, Croa ...

north of Sulaymaniyah, and injured six nearby civilians in the marketplace (two men, two women, and two children). Four of the wounded are in serious condition in Qalachwan Hospital.

Operation Claw-Tiger

On 17 June, Turkish Land Forces launched a ground operation in the Haftanin region of Iraqi Kurdistan. Units of the

Hakkari Mountain and Commando Brigade The 5th Commando Brigade, more commonly known as the Hakkari Mountain and Commando Brigade ( Turkish: ''Hakkâri Dağ ve Komando Tugayı''), stationed in Hakkâri Province in southeastern Turkey, founded as a battalion of the 1st Commando Brigad ...

and 1st Commando Brigade were airlifted across the Iraq–Turkey border.

Iranian cooperation

On 16 June, the Iranian military shelled the Choman area of the Qandil Mountains, an attack that is believed to have been coordinated with the simultaneous Turkish airstrikes. The collaboration is said to materialize known alliances between Turkey and Iran.

Domestic reactions

Iraq

The parliament of the Kurdistan region criticized the attacks while Iraq demanded that Turkey stops violating the Iraqi airspace and terrorizing the population in the area. In August 2020, Iraq canceled a ministerial meeting and summoned the Turkish ambassador as Iraq blamed Turkey for a drone strike that killed two high-ranking Iraqi military officers. Officials called it a "blatant Turkish drone attack" in the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

International reactions

UN-member countries

In June 2020, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom accused Turkey that it threatened Yazidis families who attempted to return to their homes in the Sinjar. Turkey rejected the claims.

International organizations

The

Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

condemned the operation based on violation of Iraq's sovereign space. Turkey criticized the declaration, on the claim of PKK itself affecting Iraq's sovereignty.

Protests

Protests condemning the airstrikes were held in Duhok province but also in several countries in Europe. In London a Kurdish protester forced a car transporting Boris Johnson to stop in order to raise awareness to the situation of the Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan.

References

{{Reflist 2020 airstrikes 2020 in international relations 2020 in Iraq Airstrikes conducted by the Turkish Air Force Cross-border operations of Turkey into Iraq June 2020 events in Iraq Kurdish–Turkish conflict (2015–present) Military operations involving Iran Iran–Turkey relations