In addition to the frequent airstrikes in the northern regions of Kurdistan by Turkish planes under the pretext of the PKK, the recent reports of Turkish troops entering some villages in the north of the region and pressuring the residents of these villages under the pretext of PKK presence in the region.

Eliza Marcus, an analyst on Kurdish-Turkish issues, quoted sources in the Kurdistan Region as saying that Turkish troops had banned residents of 12 villages north of Duhok from entering the villages.

The Kurdish affairs expert warned on her Twitter page that the pressure exerted on the residents of the villages in the northern part of the Kurdistan Region by Turkish forces is reminiscent of their tactics in the 1990s against the PKK inside Turkey.

She noted that Turkish military forces have forcibly evacuated Kurdish villages inside the country in the 1990s and even burned houses, and that recent events in villages in the Kurdistan Region could be a sign that Turkey is using the same tactics against Kurdish areas in Iraq under the pretext of confronting the PKK.

Reporter's code: 50101