Statement: Turkey, Iran Agree to Jointly Fight Terrorists
ANKARA (Dispatches) -- Turkey and Iran have agreed to target PKK terrorists and their affiliates in joint military operations, following high-level video conference talks attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Hassan Rouhani.
Tuesday's statement was the first in recent years where Iran has publicly announced that it would go after the PKK and its Iranian affiliate PJAK in joint operations with Ankara.
"Both sides emphasized that it is incumbent upon both countries to fully utilize the existing cooperation mechanisms against the activities of PKK/PJAK elements and the other terrorist organisations along the common borders,” said the declaration.
"And to take coordinated steps for a result-oriented cooperation, including joint operations, in countering terrorism and organized crime."
Turkey has fought a guerilla war with the PKK since 1984, when the group first launched its armed campaign to carve out an independent Kurdish state. PJAK was founded in 2004 as an affiliate based in Iran.
Earlier this year, the Turkish air force struck caves and bunkers belonging to the PKK in northern Iraq.
Last year the Turkish Interior Ministry said on two separate occasions that the two countries were fighting the PKK together in a simultaneous operation on their respective sides.
"We are chasing PKK elements toward the border, as Iranians do the same on the other side. Both countries coordinate their efforts and simultaneously capture or kill them,” a Turkish official told Middle East Eye at the time.
In the last two years, the Turkish military has increased its foothold in northern Iraq by adding more ad-hoc bases and outposts, which first began to be established in the 1990s. Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the autonomous administration in northern Iraq, has largely tolerated their presence.
Both Iran and Turkey have designated the PKK a terror group and have from time to time collaborated against it.
Tuesday's statement was the first in recent years where Iran has publicly announced that it would go after the PKK and its Iranian affiliate PJAK in joint operations with Ankara.
"Both sides emphasized that it is incumbent upon both countries to fully utilize the existing cooperation mechanisms against the activities of PKK/PJAK elements and the other terrorist organisations along the common borders,” said the declaration.
"And to take coordinated steps for a result-oriented cooperation, including joint operations, in countering terrorism and organized crime."
Turkey has fought a guerilla war with the PKK since 1984, when the group first launched its armed campaign to carve out an independent Kurdish state. PJAK was founded in 2004 as an affiliate based in Iran.
Earlier this year, the Turkish air force struck caves and bunkers belonging to the PKK in northern Iraq.
Last year the Turkish Interior Ministry said on two separate occasions that the two countries were fighting the PKK together in a simultaneous operation on their respective sides.
"We are chasing PKK elements toward the border, as Iranians do the same on the other side. Both countries coordinate their efforts and simultaneously capture or kill them,” a Turkish official told Middle East Eye at the time.
In the last two years, the Turkish military has increased its foothold in northern Iraq by adding more ad-hoc bases and outposts, which first began to be established in the 1990s. Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the autonomous administration in northern Iraq, has largely tolerated their presence.
Both Iran and Turkey have designated the PKK a terror group and have from time to time collaborated against it.