Turkiye has also launched military incursions in Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s military conducted airstrikes in northern Iraq and “neutralized” 17 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the defense ministry said on Monday. Turkiye, which typically uses the term neutralized to mean killed, has been carrying out a cross-border operation called Claw-Lock in Iraq as part of its offensive against PKK militants. The PKK, which has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, is designated a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union. Turkiye has also launched military incursions in Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia, regarding it as a wing of the PKK.