April 19, 2019
The Iranian and Turkish armed forces have had a curious spat this past month with Turkey saying the two armies have jointly attacked the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) forces in northern Iraq and Iran saying that is false. The disagreement broke out just before Now Ruz and the issue was buried, and unresolved, by the Now Ruz closure of most print media. A few days before Now Ruz, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the two countries were carrying out “joint” operations against the PKK. On March 20, Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi as dismissing false “claims by some media” and said there was no “joint operation” with Turkey. Later that same day, the Turkish Interior Ministry said the commanders of Turkey’s gendarmes and Iran’s Border Guards had agreed during a telephone call to continue “simultaneous and coordinated operations” for “some time.” In other words, the two countries are both attacking the PKK in separate but coordinated campaigns. Iran only denied the operations were “joint.”