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Türkiye dismantled an Israeli plan to deploy the terrorist organization PKK and its Iranian affiliate PJAK as proxy ground forces against Iran during the ongoing war.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan directly warned U.S. President Donald Trump that Ankara would strike if terrorist organizations were drawn into the conflict, according to a report by Turkiye daily journalist Yucel Kayaoglu, citing security and political sources.
Israel sought to position the PKK and PJAK as ground forces against Iran from the start of the U.S.-Israeli campaign on Feb. 28, using the Israeli Secret Intelligence Service, Mossad, to contact organization leaders in northern Iraq and inside Iran, the report said.
When movement was detected on both sides of the border, Türkiye moved rapidly to intervene.
"In a phone call in early March, Erdogan told Trump in explicit terms that Ankara objected to the use of the terrorist organization in the Iran war and that Türkiye's position on Iran's territorial integrity was firm," sources said.
Ankara's response came on four fronts simultaneously, with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and National Intelligence Organization (MIT) head Ibrahim Kalin conducting intensive contacts with the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq and Iraq's central government, delivering Türkiye's position in unambiguous language.
A delegation comprising officials from the Foreign Ministry, MIT, and senior political figures traveled to northern Iraq. During the meetings, the delegation warned that if the organizations entered the fight, Türkiye would intervene regardless of any ongoing peace process.
"You saw what happened in Syria. We will do the same here. We will not wait for any process. At the slightest step that would set the region on fire, what needs to be done will be done," the delegation told their counterparts, according to the report.
In a significant development, imprisoned PKK ringleader Abdullah Ocalan was also brought into the effort.
Ocalan sent a message to the PKK's Qandil mountain headquarters ordering the organization to absolutely not become involved in the Iran situation, the report said.
Ocalan warned the PKK "not to fall for Israel's game," sources said.
The matter was discussed at a recent security assessment at the Presidential Complex attended by security bureaucracy officials and senior ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) figures, where the successful blocking of Israel's proxy plan was reviewed.
The Iran war has had a direct impact on the PKK disarmament process, with the conflict slowing progress toward the laying down of arms in northern Iraq, Kayaoglu reported in a separate March 28 report, citing AK Party sources.
A framework law related to the peace process had been planned for late March or early April, following the completion of a report by parliament's "Terror-Free Türkiye Commission." However, the war disrupted the PKK's disarmament timeline.
"Because of the war, there has been a slowdown in disarmament, so the political steps to be taken in parliament are also slipping," AK Party sources said.
"Our current goal is to pass these laws before parliament goes on recess in July," the sources added.
Security sources warned that the PKK was viewing Iran as a potential "exit route" and opportunity.
"Hakurk, Gabar, and Qandil should have been emptied long ago. But because of what is happening in Iran, the disarmament process has come to a near halt. The organization is now looking at whether Iran could be a way out," security sources said.
Security assessments indicated that the situation in Syria was progressing as Türkiye wanted, with the integration process described as positive and the "threshold of verification and confirmation" having been met.
However, no similar progress had been achieved on the Iraq front regarding the PKK's disarmament.
AK Party officials emphasized that passing legislation was not the main challenge, saying, "The issue is implementation. If we pass the law and just wait, we will spin our wheels again. The field needs to be cleared. Otherwise, it is meaningless. We must not create a lack of trust in society."
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