Kurdish–Turkish conflict

A Turkish soldier was fatally wounded during an anti-terror operation in eastern Turkey, a security source said late on Aug. 27.   

Specialized Sergeant Çetin Ak was struck by shrapnel during the destruction of materials found in a cave in Ağri province. 

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.

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.

Turkey continues to block NATO defense plans for Poland and Baltic states despite a deal in London last year between Turkey's president and allied leaders, three allied diplomats and a French defense official said on Wednesday.

Diplomats said while Ankara has approved the plan, known as Eagle Defender, it has not allowed NATO military chiefs to put it into action.

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

Turkey's opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) on June 15 started the "March for Democracy against Coup" in the northwestern province of Edirne and the southeastern province of Hakkari.

The march, which aimed to end in the capital Ankara on June 20, has faced restrictions including bans on entry and exit to some provinces due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

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.