US siding with Turkey over PKK attack, but holding hands with Iraq in the background

 Following a suicide attack in Ankara, Turkey has cracked down on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Washington has condemned the attack and expressed support for Turkey's right to defend itself, but mass arrests and air strikes in Kurdish areas of Iraq have made it difficult for Washington to strike a balance.

Despite being considered a terrorist organization by the US, Turkey, and the EU, Turkey's counter-terrorism measures have included capturing nearly 1,000 people and attacking targets inside Iraq.

Human rights violations in Turkey have been a source of concern for US President Joe Biden's administration in the past, as the State Department reported in a 2022 country report that there were "credible reports" of killings, suspicious deaths of people in police custody, arbitrary arrests, and the "continued detention of tens of thousands of persons."

Baghdad condemned Turkey's attack on 20 targets in northern Iraq on Sunday.

Nearly 1,000 Turkish citizens, including a news anchor and alleged Kurdish militants, are detained.

After the suicide bombing in Ankara, the Turkish military destroyed 20 PKK targets in Northern Iraq.

"These violations are rejected by the Iraqi people, the Kurdistan region, and all Iraqis," Iraq's President Abdul Latif Rashid said in an interview with Saudi television network Al Hadath.

As relations with Nato ally Turkey have frayed in recent years, Washington remains close to Baghdad.

The US State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, told reporters Monday that the PKK poses a legitimate security threat to Turkey and that Turkey should cooperate with Iraq in counterterrorism efforts in a way that respects and supports Iraqi sovereignty.

Although the US views the PKK as a terrorist organization, it is allied with the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is primarily composed of Kurdish-led People's Defence Units.

The US sees the SDF as critical in the fight against the remnants of ISIS in the region.

Since its inception, this partnership has angered and frustrated Turkey.

The US support for the SDF was a "flawed policy," but the US had invested too much to simply abandon it.

In the meantime, Ankara has steadily reduced the PKK's capabilities in Turkey and elsewhere.

As a result of their steady drumbeat, they are attracting large numbers of PKK leaders, even junior leaders.

Sabrina Singh, Pentagon spokeswoman, said the US military's Central Command remains focused on defeating ISIS despite Turkey's targeting of the PKK.

It would be counterproductive to further destabilize our mission, which is to defeat ISIS enduringly," she said.