Turkish & Iranian commanders agree to continue operations against PKK – Ankara

Turkish and Iranian military commanders agreed in a phone call to continue joint operations against militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) for “some time,” according to Turkey’s Interior Ministry. Tehran earlier this week denied a Turkish announcement that the two countries were carrying out a joint operation against the PKK. However, Turkey’s Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that the country’s Gendarme Commander Arif Cetin and Iranian Border Forces Commander Qassem Rezai discussed the joint operations. In a separate phone call, Turkish and Iranian deputy interior ministers welcomed the stage reached in the joint operations, the ministry said. Earlier this week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey and Iran were carrying out a joint operation against the PKK, describing it as the first of its kind. A source said Iran’s armed forces were not part of the operation, Reuters reports.