A large number of soldiers and military equipment have been deployed to military bases and outposts in Çukurca (Çelê) district of the Kurdish-majority Hakkari (Colemerg) province in southeastern Turkey on the border with Iraqi Kurdistan, Mezopotamya Agency reported.
The deployment and a memo sent out to village guards in the area signal preparations for a new incursion into Iraq.
Turkey’s intensified cross-border operations that follow the elections in May have resulted in a surge in clashes with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and a rise in casualties. After the elections the PKK also ended a unilateral ceasefire, further exacerbating the situation.
Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Executive Council Co-chair Cemil Bayık announced the end of the ceasefire on 14 June, after four months of no armed action in the aftermath of the devastating 6 February earthquakes that impacted more than 13 million people in Turkey and Syria.
