Several division sized units of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization allied Army of Turkey, supported by jet attack aircraft and Cobra helicopters, opens a large scale offensive16 miles into northern Iraq (semi-autonomous Kurdistan) in an effort to annihilate Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) strongholds.  During the military dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, such incursions were welcome as the PKK intends to carve an independent nation out of a large juncture of Iraq, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey.

       [added 6/16/2024]