Launched by Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) in Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan within the boundaries of Iraq Kurdistan region, Operation Claw-Lock continues. Taking into account that this operation has started right after the meeting, the prime minister of Iraq Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Mesrur Barzani had with President Erdogan on April 15, and the meeting traffic in recent months, it is understood that KRG has been updated about the process. On one hand, assessing the Operation as “the violation of its sovereignty rights,” the Foreign Ministry of Iraq delivered a protest note containing the demand “TAF withdraw from Iraq soil” to Ali Rıza Güney, Ambassador of Turkey to Bagdat by calling him to the ministry. The Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu, on the other hand, issued, in response to the reaction of Iraq Foreign Ministry, the statement of “We have no intentions to occupy Iraq soil. We even support Iraq’s territorial integrity by fighting terrorism.”

Now, what is the meaning of starting such a comprehensive operation in the name of “fighting terrorism” while Internal Affairs Minister Soylu keeps on saying “PKK has been disabled to function”? In other words, what mission and calculations are behind the pretext of “fighting terrorism” of Erdoğan’s government?

In order to provide answers to those questions, it is necessary to look into what kind of political conjuncture in the country and the regions Operation Claw-Lock is launched under.

First of all, the war in Ukraine signified Turkey’s importance in NATO. In addition, the significance of Turkey’s geo-political position  in the fight for domination/re-division amongst imperialists, from Black Sea to Eastern Mediterranean and from Middle-East to Caucasia, also became more visible. On energy issue, in search of reducing Europe’s dependency on Russia, Turkey started to become prominent as a country of energy conduit. Erdogan government’s search for “normalization” with United Arab Emirates and Israel, which it was once contentious with, should be considered together with both the unification the US allies in the region in its own axis and the politics of transporting the energy sources in the region to Europe.

If launched under different conditions, such an operation would get more opposing reactions, but this political conjuncture would play a role making it easier for Erdogan government to launch it.

We can assess the mission and calculations of Erdogan government on this operation under three titles: military, economic, and political.

Under military, it is intended to introduce a “secure region” to 40 km in depth inside Iraq borders. Related to this goal, tens of military bases have already been established (According to Presidential Department of Communication, 38 military bases) during series of Operation Claw, the first of which was launched in 2019. Despite that Foreign Minister Cavusoglu says “We have no intentions to occupy Iraq soil,” it is strongly possible, depending on the instabilities in Iraq and the region, for Turkey to always find pretexts to continue its existence there and for this occupation to become an international dispute to persist long years to come.

As per military missions, there is a partnership between Erdogan government and KRG. Because the most influencing political power of KRG, KDP wants to eliminate PKK, which it sees as a rival both militarily and politically, and accuses as “the cause of instabilities in the region.” Consequently, there has been a tension for a long time between KDP and PKK sometimes turning into clashes and being reflected on the relations between PYD in Rojava and ENKS formed by the parties of Barzani line.

Under the economic calculations behind the Operation, it is necessary to recall that, since 2014, Kurdistan oil has been transported to Europe through the Ceyhan pipeline, and on this basis, there is a treaty between Erdogan and Barzani governments in effect for 50 years. Working to prevent Russia to emerge as a strong imperialist power against it, the USA, in this context, is heading the attempts directed towards reducing specially Europe’s dependency on Russia on energy. Therefore, it cannot be considered independently of those attempts that President Erdogan commented, on his way back from NATO summit in Brussel, “Our friendship with Neçirvan Barzani is very very different, and the understanding between us is far advanced (...) Hopefully, by adapting the treaties related Iraq natural gas, on the basis of win-win, both they will win and we will have won,” and following that KRG prime minister announced, in a conference he participated in Dubai, that “in the near future, they will start exporting gas to Turkey and Europe.”

Right on this point, in order to understand the relation between the military and economic missions of Operations Claw, it carries significance to recall that the militarily eliminating PKK that has been assessed as a threat for Iraq’s energy sources and their transportation lines since the Baker-Hamilton report of the USA, prepared at the end of 2006,  and on this basis, that the politics of improving the cooperation between Turkey and KRG.

For political missions and calculations, before all, in relation to the aim of creating international legitimacy, Ömer Çelik, AKP spokesperson, declared that this operation had been launched based on Article 51 of the United Nations Charter (right to self-defence of an attacked member of UN). But, Iraq central government says that “its sovereignty right has been violated” by this operation and it is a “violation of the UN Charter and international law.” Even the continued silence of the USA and the Western imperialists reacting such attempts very furiously has demonstrated once again that the international law works per the relations of power and for the priorities of imperialists.

We can deduce that the political mission and calculations of Erdogan government are directed towards mainly the internal politics. Because the operations targeting PKK and scratching the chauvinist sensitivities on this basis form the weak side of bourgeois opposition. It is clearly a demonstration of the position of the bourgeois opposition that CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu, who voted “no” in the General Assembly for the resolution for war against Syria and Iraq, voted in October of last year, took supporting position for this operation launched within Iraq borders. Although it is so much clear that Erdoğan government is trying to use this operation to stop its own loss of power, to have the sections of people, reacting to the government because of serious economic hardship, reserved by exciting them through nationalism and chauvinism, and to increase oppression on opposition while the country is in upcoming elections process, CHP leader is unable to rise and say that Kurdish question cannot be resolved through war and operations, but through democracy and peace.

Most probably, this position of Kilicdaroglu has made Erdoğan happy the most. Because, with this position of his, he has once again showed Erdogan how useful the operations to be launched are for keeping HDP and democracy forces under oppression, for taking the country to elections under extraordinary conditions, and for having the bourgeois opposition divided and reserved.

However, the main truth that this operation points to but Kılıçdaroğlu first, the bourgeois opposition does not want to see, is that the struggle for democracy in the country and the struggle for peace in the region have been intermingled. Therefore, without opposing to this operation, no consistent democracy struggle can be waged against the single man regime in the country.