Operation Hammer (1997)

Operation Hammer (1997)
Part of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict and Iraqi Kurdish Civil War
Date12 May – 7 July 1997
Location
Iraqi Kurdistan
Result

Turkish and KDP victory

  • Operational success[3]
Belligerents
 Turkey
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)[1]		 Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)[2]
Commanders and leaders
Turkey Altay Tokat[4] Abdullah Öcalan
Strength
30,000[5]–50,000 soldiers[1]
10,000 village guards[5]		 5,000–6,000 PKK fighters[6][non-primary source needed][page needed]
Casualties and losses

Turkey:
114 killed, 338 wounded[7]
1 AH-1W Super Cobra[8]
KDP:
~200 killed[9]

Total: 314 killed		 PKK:
2,730 killed, 415 captured[7]

Operation Hammer (Turkish: Çekiç Harekâtı) was the largest cross-border operation done in the history of Turkish Armed Forces into northern Iraq between 12 May and 7 July 1997 against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The operation's objectives were to destroy PKK units in northern Iraq, to strengthen Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party in its ongoing Civil War with Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in the hope that the KDP would prevent further PKK raids into Turkey, and to counter Iranian influence in the region as Turkey accused Iran of supporting the PKK, and over 2,000 Iranian forces had entered Iraqi Kurdistan that year to aid the PUK.[10]

  1. ^ a b The Europa World Year: Kazakhstan – Zimbabwe. Taylor & Francis. 2004. ISBN 9781857432558. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  2. ^ Aylin Ünver Noi, 1 July 2012, The Arab Spring, Its Effects on the Kurds, and the Approaches of Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq on the Kurdish Issue Archived 17 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine, The Global Research in International Affairs Center
  3. ^ "Irak'ın kuzeyine gerçekleştirilen büyük harekatlar". 28 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Altay Tokat'ın portresi: Üç madalyalı 'Çekiç' komutanı" [Portrait of Altai Tokat: Commander of the 'Hammer' with three medals]. Radikal (in Turkish). Ankara. 28 July 2006. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  5. ^ a b "(page 155)" (PDF). Helsinki.fi. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  6. ^ Tokat, Altay (2013). Mücadele ve Çözüm (PKK Bölücü Terörü).[non-primary source needed][page needed]
  7. ^ a b "Çekiç harekatı (12 Mayıs – 7 July 1997)". Hürriyet Daily News. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
  8. ^ "Netzwerk Friedenskooperative - Themen - Türkei/Kurdistan-Invasion - turkhg52 -". archiv.friedenskooperative.de. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  9. ^ Chronology for Kurds in Iraq Archived 17 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, UNHCR
  10. ^ Gunter, Michael M. (1 March 1998). "Turkey and Iran Face off in Kurdistan". Middle East Quarterly. Retrieved 7 July 2017.