Iraqi Kurds Ask PKK to Withdraw

“We condemn this bombardment that led to the martyrdom of people from the Kurdistan region and call on Turkey not to bombard civilians again”, Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani said in a statement.

In the same statement, the presidency also urged the PKK and the Turkish government to resume a peace process which the recent violence has all but shattered.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said as many as 28 F-16 jets raided 65 Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, targets in northern Iraq, including shelters and ammunition depots on Friday.

The heaviest airstrikes on PKK targets were conducted Thursday when 80 Turkish aircraft hit more than 100 targets both inside and outside the country.

But questions have emerged over whether Turkey is using its limited strikes against ISIL as a cover for attacks on the Kurds.

A Turkish soldier was killed Saturday in a mine attack in the Kars region of northeastern Turkey, NTV television reported.

But Turkey shifted focus to the PKK following an attack claimed by the rebels that killed two policemen.

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Kilis in Turkey, said Iraq’s Kurdish regional government enjoys “a very good relationship” with Turkey, which serves as “their economic lifeline”.

“The PKK must keep the battlefield away from the Kurdistan region in order for civilians not to become victims of this war”, it said.

The Syrian Kurdish YPG, which frequently coordinates with D.J.-led air forces bombing Islamic State, stated it had nothing to do with violence between the PKK and Turkish state.

“This has affected us negatively, because it is the mountainous border areas of the Kurdistan region that have been bombarded”, he said.

“The region’s presidency has asked the PKK to take its forces out, especially since there is an agreement between the Iraqi and Turkish governments allowing Turkish forces to enter the Iraqi side”.

Eleven members of the committee were meeting in Istanbul for the first time since the PKK renewed its armed campaign and the Turkish military launched airstrikes against the group, considered a terror organization in Turkey, the EU and U.S.

“We must remember that there’s a long history of conflict between the two groups”, our correspondent said.

A statement released Saturday on the YPG’s official account said the group had pushed out “Isis terrorists” and was able to completely “secure the city”.

The main Syrian Kurdish militia, known as the People’s Protection Units or YPG, has been spearheading battles against the Islamic State group, with air support from the U.S.-led coalition. It said the Turkish acts “will have negative consequences if they continue, and Turkey’s government will be held accountable for the results”.