As the clashes between the Turkish armed forces and Kurdish fighters in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan have now entered their third month, the ‘war sheets’ announced by the two sides reflect the human costs of the war. Turkey announced a list of war dead since 2015.
Turkey’s Minister for Defence Hulusi Akar issued a statement on Friday in which he said that, since 1 January, 1,366 Kurdish fighters lost their lives. He also reported the death toll of Kurdish fighters since July 2015 as numbering 18,220.
The People’s Defence Forces (HPG), the armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that has been especially targeted in the Zap, Metina and Avashin regions of Iraqi Kurdistan since the most recent military operation by the Turkish armed forces commenced on 23 April, announced the findings of its war sheet for the past two months, ANF reported.
The HPG stated that between 23 April and 23 June, 389 Turkish soldiers had lost their lives during the 39 ‘air’ and 327 ‘ground actions’ that had been launched by the Kurdish fighters.
“The defeat of the Turkish army, which tries to hide the outcome of the war and their losses, has manifested itself one more time with the deepened crisis of the AKP-MHP [Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party and Nationalist Movement Party] clique,” the HPG statement read.
The HPG also stated that the Turkish armed forces have resorted to “chemical weapons and poisonous gases” 17 times within the past two months.