US and Turkey to Cooperate on Driving PKK Out from Sinjar: Turkish FM
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
Sinjar (BasNews) Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated that Turkey will consider a military operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Sinjar, northern Iraq.
“[Turkey] will use military options against the PKK in Sinjar. I’m not saying that we will only use military force if necessary, I’m saying that we will use military force, without question,” Çavuşoğlu told Daily Sabah on March 30.
Speaking to Daily Sabah, Çavuşoğlu said the military option against PKK in Sinjar was also discussed during the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to Ankara on March 30.
The Turkish official sated the US has also plans to oust PKK from Sinjar, adding that the US is ready to cooperate with Turkey on this matter.
Tillerson also said at a press conference in Ankara after meeting with Çavuşoğlu that they stand alongside Turkey in its fight to stop terrorism directed against the country and its people.
The PKK guerrillas entered Sinjar in the wake of the IS attack on the district in 2014 and they have ever since refused to leave the area despite the frequent calls of the Yezidis and Kurdistan Region officials for their withdrawal.