Military Buildup Along Turkish Border
(Ebru News/AP) Today while Muslims all over the world celebrated Eed al-Fiter, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, in Turkiye military movements at the Iraqi border continued. Today three more tanks were seen being moving towards the border. The Turkish parliament is expected to approve a government request to authorize an Iraqi campaign as early as next week.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today that Turkiye would be ready to pay the price of any Iraq campaign if it decides to stage a cross-border offensive against PKK terrorists in Iraq.
But that does not mean a risky incursion will follow immediately: Turkiye might give diplomacy, and perhaps economic pressure, more time to work even as public enthusiasm for a military mission mounts.
In the latest reported violence, a Turkish soldier was killed in a mine explosion on Thursday night on Mountain Gabar in southeastern Sirnak province - where 13 soldiers have been ambushed and killed over the past week.
Erdogan said Turkiye has long been seeking the cooperation of Iraq and the United States but there has been no crackdown on the terrorist group of in Iraq.
Meanwhile, children of Sirnak's Cizre city celebrated Eid at a playground, taking a break from worries of a possible military action on the border.
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