Turkiye and Iraq agree on military pact against Kurd separatists

Turkiye and Iraq agree on military pact against Kurd separatists

Sub: IR

Sec:  Places in news

Context:

• Turkiye and Iraq agreed on a military cooperation pact that will see joint training and command centres against Kurdish separatists, with Baghdad saying it will ban the PKK as a party.
• The pact follows signs of a thaw in relations between Ankara and Baghdad, which have been strained by a Turkish military operation against the PKK in northern Iraq.

Details about the pact:

• In addition to fighting militant organisations the pact also talks about securing their border against smuggling and illegal migration.
• A joint security coordination centre will be created in Baghdad and a joint training and cooperation centre at Bashiqa near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
• Iraq has agreed to add the PKK to the list of banned parties.

Kurdistan Workers’ Party:

• The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK has been involved in an on-and-off armed insurgency against Turkiye since 1984.
• It was was founded by the Marxist revolutionary Abdullah Ocalan in 1978 to create an independent Kurdistan.
• PKK is labelled a “terror organisation” by Turkiye, the United States and European Union.
• PKK has bases in northern Iraq from where it launches attacks into Turkiye.

Kurdistan:

• Kurdistan, or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo-cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population.
• It spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northern Syria.
• Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region runs along the border with Turkiye.