ASSESSMENTS

Turkey Backs Off Its Sinjar Offensive, for Now

Mar 28, 2018 | 20:43 GMT

Fighters from the Kurdish peshmerga militias take up positions in Sinjar in November 2015, during the fight to oust the Islamic State from the area.

Fighters from the Kurdish peshmerga militias take up positions in Sinjar in November 2015, during the operation to oust the Islamic State from the area. More than two years later, Sinjar is back in the spotlight once again.

(John Moore/Getty Images)

Highlights

Iraq's military has temporarily blocked a Turkish military deployment to Sinjar, staving off an incursion that could stir diplomatic tension between Baghdad and Ankara.
Turkey, however, is still committed to its operations throughout northern Iraq as it fights against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The Iraqi and Iraqi Kurdish governments will cooperate with Ankara's anti-PKK operations close to the Turkish border to try to avoid more disruptive military activity elsewhere.

As it has been a handful of times during recent periods of conflict in Iraq, remote Mount Sinjar is back in the spotlight. Baghdad deployed troops to the area in northwestern Iraq on March 26, after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to launch an offensive in the region to drive out fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Although Turkey is standing down for now, it's not clear whether Ankara will be satisfied to let Iraqi forces hold Sinjar, and the situation could yet go in several different directions....

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