Operation Steel

Operation Steel (Turkish: Çelik Harekâtı) was a cross-border operation by the Turkish Armed Forces into northern Iraq between 20 March and 4 May 1995 against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The purpose of offensive was to put a stop to the PKK from conducting cross-border raids onto military stations.[7]

Operation Steel
Çelik Harekâtı
Part of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict

Mechanized Infantry before moving into northern Iraq
Date20 March – 4 May 1995
Location
Northern Iraq
Result Turkish victory [1]
Belligerents
 Turkey Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
Commanders and leaders
Turkey Hasan Kundakçı Abdullah Öcalan
Strength
35,000+[2] 2,400-2,800[3]
Casualties and losses
64 killed
185 wounded[4][5]		 555 killed
13 captured[6]

The Operation

On March 20, 1995, some 35,000 Turkish troops launched an invasion into northern Iraq. The effect of the attack was however relatively limited, despite high PKK casualties, as the majority of the PKK forces fled the region to not be killed by the Turkish forces before the offensive begun. They had noticed the military buildup on the border and were anticipating the offensive. By April 25, Turkey pulled out 20,000 of its 35,000 troops. On May 3, after the Kurdistan Democratic Party delegation to Turkey said that they would stop PKK activities in Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkey withdrew its remaining forces on May 4. The military operation strained relations between Turkey and the United States and Europe, as over 15,000 Iraqi Kurdish civilians were displaced by Turkish forces.[8]

See also

References
  1. POPE, HUGH (5 May 1995). "Most Turkish Troops Said to Be Out of Iraq : Mideast: Ankara's army says it killed 555 Kurdish militants and lost 61 soldiers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  2. Kurds in Turkey (page 18) Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Gunter, M.M. (1997). The Kurds and the Future of Turkey. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 35. ISBN 9780312172657. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  4. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/2455739
  5. https://www.21yyte.org/assets/uploads/files/Ter%C3%B6rle%20M%C3%BCcadelede%20Verdi%C4%9Fimiz%20%C5%9Eehitler%20Tarihe%20G%C3%B6re%20S%C4%B1ral%C4%B1%281%29.pdf
  6. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/2455739
  7. Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (5 May 2015). A History of Counterinsurgency [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 328. ISBN 9781440804250. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  8. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "Refworld | Chronology for Kurds in Turkey". unhcr.org. Archived from the original on 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2015-04-13.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.