Source: https://casebook.icrc.org/case-study/turkeyiraq-turkish-military-operations-northern-iraq
Timestamp: 2019-10-19 18:04:58
Document Index: 166723270

Matched Legal Cases: ['Arts 2', 'Art. 1', 'Art. 1', 'Art. 3', 'Art. 1', 'Art. 2', 'Art. 6', 'Art. 3', 'Arts 43', 'Art. 13', 'Art. 13', 'Art. 13']

Turkey/Iraq, Turkish Military Operations in Northern Iraq | How does law protect in war? - Online casebook
A. Turkey warplanes ‘kill 25 rebels’ in northern Iraq
[Source: “Turkey warplanes ‘kill 25 rebels’ in northern Iraq”, in BBC News Europe, 10 September 2012, available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk]
The Turkish military says it killed 25 Kurdish rebels during a recent offensive in northern Iraq.
Warplanes hit 14 rebel hideouts in the cross-border strikes from 5 to 9 September, it said in a statement.
Clashes between soldiers and rebels have killed 461 people in south-east Turkey this year, the military said separately according to local media.
Fighting between the army and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels in the region has escalated in the past year.
The army has mounted hundreds of operations in a bid to drive out the rebels.
'Rendered ineffective'
Several thousand rebels are believed to be based in northern Iraq, and the Turkish military regularly violates Iraqi airspace to target them.
"Initial data" suggest 25 terrorists were "rendered ineffective" in the recent air operation in northern Iraq, AFP news agency quoted the Turkish military as saying.
The PKK has been fighting for an ethnic homeland in south-eastern Turkey since 1984. It is classified as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and EU.
Of the 461 people the army says have died in south-east Turkey this year, 88 – about a fifth of the total – were soldiers killed over the past nine months, AFP quoted local TV network NTV as saying.
Some 373 rebels were killed over five months.
NTV quoted the army as saying the Turkish military operations were focused on four south-eastern cities of Hakkari, Tunceli, Siirt and Sirnak.
In a two-week period from the end of July alone, the interior minister said at least 115 rebels died in Hakkari province.
And just a week ago, 10 members of Turkish security forces were killed in a rebel attack in Sirnak province, officials said.
B. Baghdad calls on Ankara to end attacks on PKK in Iraq
[Source: “Baghdad calls on Ankara to end attacks on PKK in Iraq”, in Press TV, 3 October 2012, available at: http://www.presstv.com]
C. Turkish jets strike Kurdish rebel hideouts in Iraq: sources
[Source: “Turkish jets strike Kurdish rebel hideouts in Iraq: sources”, in Ahram Online, 8 October 2012, available at: http://www.english.ahram.org]
D. Turkey Kurds : PKK chief Ocalan calls for ceasefire
[Source: “Turkey Kurds: PKK chief Ocalan calls for ceasefire”, in BBC News Europe, 21 March 2013, available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk]
Ocalan also urged the fighters of his PKK organisation to withdraw from Turkey, in a message read out to cheers during Kurdish New Year celebrations in the city of Diyarbakir.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cautiously welcomed the call.
Mr Erdogan said the move was "positive" but stressed the importance of the implementation of any ceasefire.
He said Turkish security forces would not undertake fresh operations against the rebels if Ocalan's call was implemented.
The military leader of the PKK, Murat Karayilan, said that he "very strongly" supported Ocalan's move. [...]
Several previous ceasefire attempts between the two sides have failed.
But the BBC's James Reynolds in Istanbul says the announcement is potentially an important step towards ending the three-decade long conflict between Kurdish rebels and the Turkish state.
He points out that this time Ocalan and Mr Erdogan – the two key figures involved – are talking via intermediaries.
Turkey's aims to become a leading power in the Middle East – and eventually in Europe mean it must end its 30-year armed conflict with Kurdish rebels, our correspondent adds.
He says that Ocalan is still the final decision-maker among the Kurds, despite the 14 years he has spent in jail. He is serving a life sentence for treason. [...]
Our correspondent says it is not immediately clear when this withdrawal will take place – or whether the PKK will ultimately choose to disarm.
There was an enormous cheer from the crowd when Ocalan's announcement was made, the BBC's Guney Yildiz reports from Diyarbarkir.
But as the announcement was finished, one man in the audience, Ismet, cautioned that there was nothing new in the message. "He has been making similar calls for peace since the 1990s," he told our correspondent.
However, the co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), Gultan Kisanak was more hopeful, telling the BBC that "this announcement is more than a call about the technical matter of a ceasefire".
"It is the declaration of a new strategy," she said. [...]
E. Kurdish Rebel Group to Withdraw From Turkey
[Source: “Kurdish Rebel Group to Withdraw From Turkey”, in The New York Times, 25 April 2013, available at : http://www.nytimes.com]
“The first step has been made, so we hope the process would be finalized without any acts of provocation,” he said. [...]
How would you classify the situation between Turkey and Iraq? Is it an international armed conflict? What arguments can be made in favor of and against such a classification? (GC I-IV, Arts 2(1) and 3; P I, Art. 1; P II, Art. 1)
How would you qualify the situation between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)? Does the fact that Turkey, the U.S. and the EU consider the PKK as a terrorist organization have an impact upon the classification of the conflict under IHL? (GC I-IV, Art. 3; P II, Art. 1)
Which conditions must be fulfilled for a situation to be qualified as a non-international armed conflict? Once the requisite level of intensity has been reached, does IHL apply until a peaceful settlement is achieved? Even if the level of intensity and the rebel group’s degree of organization go down below that threshold? (P II, Art. 2(2))
Does the fact that a non-international armed conflict spills over the borders of one state change the nature of the conflict? Does it become an international armed conflict? A transnational armed conflict? Under what circumstances does a non-international armed conflict become an international armed conflict?
When does a non-international armed conflict end? An international armed conflict? Does the withdrawal of PKK fighters from Turkey end the non-international armed conflict? (GC IV, Art. 6(2); P I, Art. 3)
If one considers that both an international (between Turkey and Iraq) and a non-international (between Turkey and the PKK) armed conflict exist, which rules apply to the attack by Turkish fighter planes against PKK fighters in Iraq? In what respect, if any, would the classification make a difference? Would it make a difference under the ICRC Interpretive Guidance on the Notion of Direct Participation in Hostilities? (see Document, ICRC, Interpretive Guidance on the Notion of Direct Participation in Hostilities)
B. Classification of persons
If IHL of international armed conflicts applied to Turkish attacks in Northern Iraq, how would you classify the members of the PKK under IHL? Are they combatants? Civilians taking part in hostilities? May they be legitimately targeted? When and under what conditions? (P I, Arts 43, 48 and 50; P II, Art. 13(3); CIHL, Rules 1 and 6; Document, ICRC, Interpretive Guidance on the Notion of Direct Participation in Hostilities)
Under IHL, is a member of armed group a legitimate target at all times? Does your answer vary depending on the nature of the conflict? (P I, Arts. 48 and 51; P II, Art. 13(3); Document, ICRC, Interpretive Guidance on the Notion of Direct Participation in Hostilities)
C. Conduct of Hostilities
Do the documents reproduced contain any indication that the Turkish attacks in Northern Iraq violated IHL?
Are the PKK’s “hideouts” legitimate targets? What if the pilot suddenly realizes that civilians have been deployed all around a hideout by the PKK in order to protect it? Is the pilot allowed to carry on with the attack as planned? Would he necessarily violate IHL if he decides to carry on with the attack? Is the PKK violating IHL by placing civilians around a military objective? (P I, Arts. 51(5)(b), 51(7), 52, 57, 58; P II, Art. 13(1); CIHL, Rules 1 and 6-24)
Are PKK fighters withdrawing with their weapons from Turkey after having announced a unilateral ceasefire under IHL still legitimate targets of attacks?