Iraq

Turkish security forces "neutralized" at least nine PKK terrorists in northern Iraq, the Defense Ministry announced on Aug. 15.

Three of the terrorists were neutralized in air-backed operations in Haftanin, and another six terrorists in the Zap and Avasin regions, the ministry said on Twitter.

Turkey is fully focused on protecting its rights in the Eastern Mediterranean, Libya, and the Aegean, the nation's president said on Aug. 15.

Turkey is also focused on stopping terrorist groups in Syria and northern Iraq, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in Rize on the Turkish Black Sea, speaking to the public and local members of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The PKK terrorist organization, which attacks Turkey from regions in Iraq where it has nested, also challenges Iraq's sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and stability, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Aug. 12. 

Turkey will continue its cross-border operations against the illegal PKK group in northern Iraq if Baghdad continues to overlook the group's presence in the region, the Foreign Ministry said on Aug. 13, urging Iraqi authorities to cooperate with Ankara.

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli expressed suspicion over the timing of a blast that razed parts of Beirut to the ground last week.

A new anti-terrorism operation has been initiated in the south of Turkey, the country's interior minister announced on Aug. 12.

At least 1,448 security personnel will be part of Operation Yıldırım-5 in the southern province of Hatay's Amanos Mountains, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said at an inauguration ceremony.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on June 17 met with the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) at the presidential palace.

Erdoğan was expected to inform the MHP leader about the recent military operations into northern Iraq, Operation Claw-Tiger and Operation Claw-Eagle, along with recent developments in Libya.

Turkey has launched Operation Claw-Tiger against terrorists in northern Iraq, the National Defense Ministry announced early on June 17. 

President Donald Trump said on June 15 he is ordering a major reduction in U.S. troop strength in Germany, a move widely criticized by members of his own party as a gift to Russia and a threat to U.S. national security.

"We're putting the number down to 25,000 soldiers,'' Trump said at the White House.

Turkish jets destroyed at least 81 targets amid airstrikes against terrorists in northern Iraq in a fresh anti-terror mission
dubbed Operation Claw-Eagle, according to a statement by the Defense Ministry on June 15.