2008 Turkish incursion into northern Iraq The 2008 Turkish incursion into northern Iraq , code - named Operation " Sun " ( ) by the Turkish Armed Forces , began on February 21 , 2008 , when the Turkish Army sent troops into northern Iraq to target the Kurdistan Workers Party ( PKK ) . The ground offensive was preceded by Turkish Air Force aerial bombardments against PKK camps in northern Iraq , which began on December 16 , 2007 . This constituted the " first confirmed ground incursion " of Iraq since the 2003 U . S . - led invasion . Initial reports indicated that up to 10 , 000 troops had taken part in the operation , while later reports indicated just several hundred . Background . In October 2007 , Turkish jets and ground forces clashed with PKK forces in Turkey and over the border into northern Iraq . Winter bombing campaign . Turkey launched its first cross - border raid on December 16 , 2007 , involving 50 fighter jets . A Turkish military statement said that up to 175 militants were killed on that day alone , while Iraqi officials reported that the strikes had targeted 10 villages and killed one civilian . The PKK reported seven deaths . On December 26 , the Turkish General Staff said Turkish military aircraft bombed eight PKK bases in northern Iraq in a raid undertaken after " it was determined that a large group of militants , who have been watched for a long time , were preparing to pass the winter in eight caves and hideouts in the Zap region , " the statement said . On January 10 , 2008 , Turkish warplanes bombed PKK hideouts in northern Iraq , the military announced , but there were no reports of casualties or serious damage . The Turkish military said in a statement on February 4 that Turkish fighter jets struck nearly 70 PKK targets in northern Iraq in a series of strikes . The president of Kurdish region of northern Iraq , Massoud Barzani , condemned Turkey ' s raids and warned Ankara to stop the strikes , and the Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari , who is a member of the Kurdish Democratic Party ( KDP ) , expressed concern that " unilateral actions " could harm Iraqi and Turkish interests . According to the Turkish General Staff ' s estimates , there were 300 PKK militants in the region prior to the incursion and the General Staff claims that 240 militans were killed . Operation Sun . Preparation for the ground incursion . On February 21 , Turkey began targeted artillery and aerial bombardment of the PKK positions in northern Iraq in order to " destroy the organizational infrastructure in the region . " This lasted from 10 : 00 to 18 : 00 local time . The Turkish government reported that on the day of the operation , Turkish President Abdullah Gül made a telephone call to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani , himself a Kurd , to brief him on the details of the incursion . He also invited Talabani to come to Turkey . Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al - Maliki on the night the ground operation began , and later U . S . President George W . Bush . The United States was guarded in its response to the incursion , requesting that Turkey take care to only target the PKK , to " limit the scope and duration of their operations , " and to work with Iraqi and Kurdish officials . Incursion . The incursion itself began at 17 : 00 UTC February 21 , 2008 . Reports from NTV Turkey indicated that 10 , 000 troops were involved in the operation , and had advanced 10 km beyond the Turkish border into Iraq , mainly around the Hakurk region . Another report from CNN - Turk said that 3000 special forces were involved . The incursion was announced on the Turkish General Staff ' s website the following day , and would constitute the " first confirmed ground incursion " since the 2003 invasion of Iraq . According to the Iraqi Foreign Minister , Turkish troops had advanced only 5 km into Iraqi territory . 60 tanks were also said to have initially entered Iraq , but by the following day some had returned across the border . Kurdish - Iraqi peshmerga forces were put on alert and prevented Turkish military monitors in northern Iraq from leaving their camps . Iraqi officials announced that no Turkish troops had crossed the Iraqi border using the major land route into Iraq , the Khabur Bridge , and there were no reports of Turkish contact from the Kurdistan Regional Government Peshmerga forces . Iraq claimed that Turkey had destroyed five bridges in the area . On February 24 , PKK sources claimed that PKK fighters had shot down a Turkish Cobra helicopter . Turkey confirmed this later in the day , saying that the incident happened " due to an unknown reason . " Advancing Turkish troops were attacking the PKKs ' shelters , logistic centers and ammunition . According to Turkey , the retreating PKK militants set booby traps under the corpses of dead comrades and planted mines on escape routes in order to gain time . By February 25 , the military had advanced more than 12 miles into Iraq and claimed to have destroyed seven militant camps . Heavy fighting raged at the entrance to the Great Zab valley with most of the Turkish troops inside Iraq involved in an attack on a key PKK command centre in the valley after taking control of the PKK ' s Haftanin camp about 3 miles from the border . Fighting was concentrated on a strategic hill controlling the entrance to the valley . At least 21 militants were killed in the battle for the hill according to the Turkish army . The PKK used long - range guns to hold off the military , killing two Turkish soldiers , until silenced with light and heavy weapons fire . PKK losses could not be determined because of bad weather . In the coming days Turkish warplanes bombed PKK hideouts in the mountainous Siladze area and heavy fighting raged in the area near the PKK camps in Zap and Haftanin , with the guerrillas putting up stiff resistance . On February 27 Turkey sent additional troops to Iraq in the face of ongoing pressure from the international community for a speedy withdrawal . On February 28 a senior Turkish official said Turkish security forces were planning to pull back their troops in a few days to an uninhabited cordon sanitaire on the southern side of the border . Pressure on Turkey to withdraw , however , continued to mount . The Turkish Army withdrew from Iraq on February 29 , declaring that their goals had been achieved and the operation concluded , while also denying that the withdrawal had been prompted by pressure from the United States . Casualties and losses . According to the Turkish General Staff , a total of 272 aerial and 517 ground attack targets were hit during the operation ; while 126 caves , 290 shelters , 12 command posts , 11 communication posts , 6 training facilities , 23 logistical facilities , 18 transportation facilities , 40 light artillery guns and 59 anti - aircraft weapons of the PKK were destroyed or disabled . Turkey claimed to have killed 237 PKK militants and captured 3 during the ground operation . On the Turkish side , 24 soldiers and 3 village guards were killed in combat . Prior to the ground operation , Turkey estimated that an additional 300 PKK militants had been killed by Turkish air strikes which began on December 16 , 2007 and continued until the beginning of the ground offensive on February 21 , 2008 . Post - conflict operations . Turkey continued sporadic long - range attacks in the weeks following the operation . In the week of March 24 , 2008 , Turkey ' s military announced that it had killed at least 15 rebels in northern Iraq after firing on them with long - range weapons . A spokesman for the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Security Forces , however , denied the report , saying Turkey has not conducted any military operation or air assault there in the previous two weeks . On April 25 and 26 , 2008 , the Turkish Air Force bombed the PKK bases in the northern Iraqi regions of Zap , Avasin - Basyan and Hakurk . This was described as the largest attack since the end of Operation Sun . First the T - 155 Fırtına howitzers ( which have a range between 30 and 56 km , depending on the type of ammunition ) were used to shell the PKK positions starting from 18 : 00 pm on April 25 , which lasted for two hours . Then F - 16 jets equipped with LANTIRN belonging to the 181st Squadron ( Pars Filo ) and F - 4E 2020 Terminator jets belonging to the 171st Squadron ( Korsan Filo ) began bombing the PKK ' s positions in northern Iraq , which lasted 45 minutes . In the meantime , Heron MALE UAVs were used for gaining reconnaissance data regarding the PKK ' s positions , and about 1000 Turkish commandos entered 8 kilometers into northern Iraq from the border area near Derecik ( Şemdinli ) in pursuit of the PKK militants . On April 26 , 2008 , at around 06 : 00 am , a second aerial strike by the jets of the Turkish Air Force from Diyarbakır Air Base took place , in which the PKK militants using the cemetery area in Hakurk as a hideout were bombed . This was followed by another air strike at 10 : 00 am in the same morning , during which the Turkish Air Force jets entered 30 kilometers into Iraqi air space . On May 1 , 2008 , at least 30 jets of the Turkish Air Force bombed the PKK camps in northern Iraq . The operation began just before midnight and continued into Friday , May 2 , 2008 . According to Turkish military sources , the PKK targets that were bombed are far from civilian settlements , at the mountains of the Qandil ( Kandil ) area . On May 3 , the Turkish General Staff announced that " more than 150 PKK militants have been neutralized in the latest operation , which targeted the camps in the Qandil Mountains , where most of the high - ranking members of the organization are located . " The Turkish General Staff , without giving a precise name , implied that the PKK rebels who were neutralized may also include " a guerilla who leads the organization " as well ; leading the Turkish press to speculate that Murat Karayilan might have also been killed during the latest aerial strikes .