Erdogan discusses with Iraq joint steps against PKK militants

BAGHDAD - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that he discussed with the Iraqi prime minister joint steps the two countries could take against Kurdish PKK militants, welcoming Iraq's designation of them as a banned group.

In a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad, Erdogan said he had shared his strong belief that the PKK's presence in Iraqi territory would end as soon as possible. 

His long-awaited visit is the first by a Turkish leader since 2011 and follows years of rocky relations as Ankara ramped up cross-border operations against PKK militants based in mainly Kurdish, mountainous northern Iraq.

Iraq has said such operations violate its sovereignty and have killed civilians, but Turkey says it must protect itself against the PKK, which it, the US and others have designated as a terrorist group.

Turkey plans a new swoop on the militants this spring and has sought Iraqi military cooperation, in the form of a joint operations room, as well as recognition by Baghdad that the PKK poses a threat to Turkey.

The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed since then.

The conflict was long fought mainly in rural areas of southeastern Turkey but is now more focused across the border in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Turkey has, since 2019, conducted a series of cross-border operations in northern Iraq against the PKK dubbed "Claw."