Sinjar

The Turkish defense minister and the chief of general staff have left for Baghdad for an official visit to hold talks with their Iraqi counterparts over security concerns after PKK attacked the Turkish troops in northern Iraq.

Turkish intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın has paid a visit to Baghdad and discussed anti-terror cooperation and other security concerns with senior Iraqi officials, including Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid.

Senior Turkish and Iraqi authorities came together in the Turkish capital to discuss the bilateral ties as well as security concerns stemming from the presence of the PKK on the latter's territories.

Six PKK terrorists have been neutralized in the regions of the Operation Claw-Lock and Operation Claw-Tiger, the Turkish Defense Ministry has said.

Posting a tweet about the latest operations against the terror organization, the ministry said, "Six terrorists neutralized."

"No stop, no tiredness. Fight continues," the ministry noted.

The Ezidi community, which escaped from Iraq's Sinjar district and took refuge in Duhok province after ISIL took control of the region, is unable to return to their homes because of oppression by the PKK and the terror group's extensions in the region, Turkey's consul general in Erbil said on April 1. 

With the latest rescue operation in the Turkish capital, the number of the Ezidis rescued from terror groups has increased to three within the last 18-month period.

According to the information obtained by Anadolu Agency, Turkish intelligence and police units conduct operations both within the country and abroad to rescue those in need.

Turkey and Iraq are planning to establish a new mechanism to provide an exchange of information for the struggle against the PKK, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Jan. 20.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi will pay a one-day official visit to Ankara to discuss economy and security matters with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as the central government in Baghdad and the regional government in Arbil have launched a joint effort to wipe out the PKK and other terror groups from the Sinjar region of Iraq.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) presence in northern Iraq's Sinjar district is a threat to Turkey, United States Defense Secretary James Mattis said on March 27.

Iraqi troops have been deployed in parts of the country’s Sinjar district, from which militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) recently retreated.