Turkish military move against Kurdish terrorists in Iraq
Operation Hammer () was the largest cross-border operation done in the history of Turkish Armed Forces into northern Iraq between 12 May and 7 July 1997 against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The operation's objectives were to destroy PKK units in northern Iraq, to strengthen Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party in its ongoing Civil War with Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in the hope that the KDP would prevent further PKK raids into Turkey, and to counter Iranian influence in the region as Turkey accused Iran of supporting the PKK, and over 2,000 Iranian forces had entered Iraqi Kurdistan that year to aid the PUK.
Conflict.
Some 30–50,000 Turkish forces entered Iraq on 14 May in response to an appeal by the Kurdistan Democratic Party for support in its offensive against the PKK. On 19 May, the KDP launched a military operation to evacuate all PKK fighters from their capital in Arbil, which turned into a major battle in which 53 KDP and 58 PKK fighters were killed. In response the PKK ordered four suicide bombings from 1 to 11 June which resulted in the death of 55 KDP fighters. By 7 July, when Turkish forces withdrew, over 2,000 PKK and at least 200 KDP forces had been killed.
The operation drew strong condemnation from Iraq, Iran and Syria.
Turkey launched another large-scale operation in September known as Operation Dawn.
References.
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