Once again #TurkeyIsBombingKurds, so it is a good time to review the presence of #TSK in #Kurdistan #KRG/Northern #Iraq. How many troops does TSK have in Iraq? Let us start with the large #Bashiqa - #Zlekan base in #Shekhan District east of #Mosul https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1v8toqlxiu_DIvaftErRkX0kZR2Y5ItCS&usp=sharing

The #TSK #Bashiqa - #Zlekan base is a cluster of bases spanning a 30 sq mi/77.5 km2 area along a 15 mi/24 KM road. Base Footprint is about 2.5 sq mi/6.5 km2, TSK xerts military control over the entire region. The area is a mix of Kurdish, Ezidi, Shabak and Assyrian villages.

Before ISIS, "estimated to be around 2,000 Turkish troops still deployed in northern Iraq under the 1997 agreement."
"Unwelcome Guests: The Turkish Military Bases in Northern Iraq", Gareth Jenkins, Jamestown, 3/24/2008

https://jamestown.org/program/unwelcome-guests-the-turkish-military-bases-in-northern-iraq/

Haydar Shesho/Êzîdxan Protection Force (HPÊ) affiliated @EzidiPress referred to TSK base as "notorious “Bordo Bereliler”/ “Kurd butchers” among Kurds from Turkey – have been training Peshmerga troops." Shesho affiliations shift, but he is closest to PUK. http://www.ezidipress.com/en/northern-iraq-turkish-army-sets-up-base-in-christian-yezidi-town/

Baghdad was opposed to TSK presence in Bashiqa. Barzani declared Erbil neutral in the dispute between Iraq-Turkey. #KDP posture is to allow TSK to run rampant over KRG. Barzani/KDP are vassals of Erdogan. HTS has more independence from Erdogan than KDP

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/081220152

KDP biased Rudaw downplayed TSK in Bashik: "150 to 200 troops entered the province with 15 tanks, 8 small armors, 4 larger armors, 13 military vehicles, one ambulance, 7 lorries loaded with ammunition and bullets, and a water tanker." Video of base:

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/051220151