Iraq to build security points on borders with Turkey

Iraq's Cabinet Spokesman and Minister of Culture Hassan Nazim clarified the most prominent decisions of the Council of Ministers from its session on Tuesday, which included funding the Joint Operations Command (JOC) to build security points on the borders with Turkey.

"The Council of Ministers hosted the deputy of the JOC to discuss the situation on the Iraqi-Turkish borders and decided to finance the JOC to build outposts on these borders," Nazim said during a conference that followed the cabinet's session.

The JOC revealed on Sunday, the preparation of special plans to secure the borders with Turkey, while it announced the participation of three types of aircraft in the month of Muharram plan.

The spokesman for the JOC, Major General Tahsin al-Khafaji, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the deputy commander of operations with the commander of the border guards and the Peshmerga made an important visit to the borders, to watch the gaps in the zero line separating Iraq and Turkey."

Khafaji added that "this is the first time that the Iraqi flag has been raised on the borders with Turkey.”

The move comes following the recent Turkish bombing of a resort in Duhok's Zakho District which killed 9 Arab tourists and injured 20 others.

Turkey has carried out cross-border offensives of varying magnitude inside Iraqi lands allegedly against the PKK for decades. However, in recent years, it's begun to establish more of a sustained presence in a growing number of bases and checkpoints dotting the mountains of the Kurdistan Region despite calls from Iraqi authorities to stop these actions. 

The PKK is an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey and is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara.

Thousands of acres of land have been burnt and many villages have been evacuated due to Turkish bombings, and even civilian casualties have fallen due to the continuous Turkish operations in the Kurdistan Region. The Turkey-PKK conflict has killed at least 597 civilians, and 226 “individuals of unknown affiliation” since July 2015, according to the International Crisis Group. 

The Turkish military has also developed a network of roads connecting the military bases and Turkish territory to facilitate resupply and reinforcement and strengthen their matrix of control over the occupied areas. From the mountain emplacements, Turkish artillery began firing on civilians living in and working on the agricultural lands in the valleys.



PUKmedia