ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that a joint operation with Iran against Kurdish militants was 鈥渁lways on the agenda,鈥� a week after Tehran鈥檚 top armed forces commander visited Ankara for rare talks.
Turkey has battled the outlawed Kurdistan Workers鈥� Party (PKK) for decades, while the Iranian security forces have also fought its affiliate, the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK). Both groups have rear bases in neighboring Iraq.
鈥淚t is always on the agenda to carry out a joint operation with Iran against those terror organizations which pose a threat,鈥� Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul before a trip to Jordan.
His comments came after Iran鈥檚 Armed Forces chief of staff General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri visited Turkey last week, with the two sides discussing ways to cooperate against the militants.
During the visit, Iran made a 鈥渟urprise proposal鈥� to Ankara to launch a joint operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq鈥檚 Kandil and Sinjar regions, the Turkish newspaper Turkiye reported on its front page on Monday.
The newspaper claimed the proposal sparked surprise in Ankara because Turkish officials had long complained that Tehran had long left Turkey alone in its fight against the PKK鈥檚 cadres, financial structuring and political activities.
Erdogan confirmed that the two countries鈥� military chiefs discussed how to work against Kurdish militants.
鈥淭he work will continue because you know that the PKK terror organization has a foot in Iran,鈥� he said.
鈥淭hey always cause harm to Iran and to us. We work because we believe that if the two countries cooperate, we can reach a conclusion in a much shorter period of time,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 hope that we will get a successful result there,鈥� he added, without offering further details on the timing or scope of the operation.
The PKK is designated as a terror group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
The Turkish army has been waging a relentless campaign in the last months to eradicate the PKK, and occasionally launches air raids against the group鈥檚 bases in northern Iraq.
Ankara has long complained Iran has ignored its appeal for a joint campaign against the Kurdish insurgency.