Baghdad on Thursday demanded Ankara immediately halt its assault in northern Iraq, where Turkish special forces and helicopters have been targeting Kurdish rebel hideouts.

Turkey early Wednesday launched a cross-border operation into the mountainous regions of northern Iraq where the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), considered by Ankara to be a "terrorist" group, is thought to be hiding out.

Iraq's foreign ministry summoned the Turkish ambassador on Thursday and handed him a "strongly-worded memorandum calling for a halt to such provocative actions".

"We stress that Turkey must stop its bombardment and withdraw its attacking forces from Iraqi territory," the ministry said in a statement.

"We affirm our categorical rejection of these violations."

Iraq on Thursday also summoned Iran's envoy Iraj Masjedi in protest over its shelling of Kurdish areas on Tuesday.

The foreign ministry statement urged Iran "respect Iraq's sovereignty and stops these types of actions".

"This ministry affirms Iraq is keen to maintain and develop the historical ties between the two countries, and also stresses its condemnation of these actions," the ministry said.

Tehran has cultivated close political, military and economic ties with Iraqi leaders over decades, including with top Kurdish officials.

Iran, which has its own minority Kurdish population, has also been fighting Kurdish rebels who use neighbouring Iraq as a base to mount attacks inside the country.

Its Revolutionary Guards last month mounted an operation against rebels in Iran's western province of Kurdistan.

- Turkey doubles down -

Thursday marked the second time in a week that Baghdad summoned Turkish ambassador Fatih Yildiz.

He was also called to the foreign ministry on Tuesday following Turkish bombardment in northern Iraq, also against PKK hideouts.

After that meeting, Yildiz said he had told Iraqi officials that if Baghdad did not take action against the rebels, Ankara would continue to "fight the PKK wherever it is".

The PKK has fought an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, using the rugged mountains of neighbouring northern Iraq as a rear base.

It has a tense relationship with the semi-autonomous Kurdish government in Iraq's north (KRG), which see the PKK as a rival but have been unable to uproot it from the area.

Analysts say the Turkish operation, dubbed "Claw-Tiger", could not have taken place without the KRG's tacit approval.

There has been no comment from Iraq's new Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, himself a Kurd who is close to top KRG authorities.

Main Turkish operations against Kurds in Iraq, Syria
Istanbul (AFP) June 18, 2020 - Turkey, whose special forces have been targeting Kurdish rebel hideouts in Iraq, has already carried out several large-scale operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and allied militias in Iraq and Syria.

- Iraq -

The Turkish army has launched several major operations in the mountainous northern region of Iraq against bases of the PKK, which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 during which more than 40,000 people have been killed.

In October 1992 Turkey entered northern Iraq for the first time, mounting a vast air and land operation against PKK bases there.

From March to May 1995 a Turkish incursion along 220 kilometres (136 miles) of the Iraq border involved 35,000 troops.

In July 1999 about 10,000 Turkish soldiers crossed the Iraqi border and with Iraqi allies sought to oust Kurdish separatists.

In October 2011 another large-scale operation was launched against Kurdish rebel camps after Turkish soldiers were killed at the Turkey-Iraq border.

The Turkish air force also regularly bombs PKK bases in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.

- Syria -

Since 2016 Turkey has launched three military operations in northern Syria where many Kurds live, aimed at fighters from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, which it considers a "terrorist" offshoot of the PKK.

From August 2016 to March 2017 it carried out an operation against the jihadist Islamic State and the YPG, which allowed it to create a buffer between Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria.

A second offensive, from January to March 2018, exclusively targeted the YPG and ousted them from their enclave of Afrin.

According to the UN, half of the enclave's 320,000 inhabitants fled during the offensive.

In October 2019, Turkey launched a broad air and ground assault on the Kurds made possible by the withdrawal of US troops, retaking control of a 30-kilometre-wide strip of the border.

Ankara halted its operation after having concluded two accords with Washington and Moscow providing for the withdrawal of the YPG from most of their border positions.

The operation left hundreds dead and displaced tens of thousands of people.

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Turkey deploys troops against Kurdish rebels in Iraq
Ankara (AFP) June 17, 2020
Turkey launched an air and ground offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq on Wednesday, in a move likely to increase friction with the Baghdad government. The defence ministry said "commandos" moved in supported by drones and helicopters, following a bombardment with rocket launchers and artillery guns that hit more than 150 targets. It added that the operation, dubbed "Claw-Tiger", came after a "recent upsurge in attacks on our police stations and military bases" near the Iraqi borde ... read more