[6] In January 2021, prior to the operation, Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar visited both the Kurdistan Region and the Iraqi capital Baghdad to announce that Turkey intends to eliminate the PKK from Iraq and to seek cooperation from the two governments.

[16] Following the airstrikes, the ground attack began at 04:55[2] as Turkish commandos were airdropped near Siyanê village and engaged in fighting against People's Defence Forces (HPG) militants.

[19][9] Six Turkish soldiers and two police officers who were kidnapped in 2015 and 2016 were identified among the killed prisoners after autopsies of the bodies were conducted in Malatya Province.

[21] Turkish Security sources gave the following information about the weapons and ammunition seized in the cave, which the organization used as a prison and bunker shelter claiming: "2 RPG 7 anti-tank rockets of US and Russian origin, 2 Russian or Chinese Biksi (PK Machine Guns) 1 Russian origin Kalashnikov rifle, 1 sniper weapon Zagros-2, 1 US origin M16 A2 Carbine 727 model infantry rifle, 8x 30 stinger air defense missile, 1 thermal night vision scope, 1 night vision goggles, one 8 × 24 daytime sight handheld binoculars, 1 harness kit (tool used for weapon holding), 1 piece of daytime sight over gun, 1 piece of Kestrel (a device used by snipers to measure the wind), 1 calculator and 1 YAHESU shortcut handheld radio.

"[22] Turkish presidency media director Fahrettin Altun vowed to "chase down every last terrorist hiding in their caves and safe houses" and exact "painful" revenge and "swift" justice after the operation's conclusion.

[6] He and presidency spokesman İbrahim Kalın condemned the Western world's lack of response and Minister of Interior Affairs Süleyman Soylu threatened to tear PKK leader Murat Karayılan "into a thousand pieces".

[23] Meanwhile, the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) expressed condolences to those killed during the operation and urged the PKK to release its remaining captives.

[26][27] Chairman of the İHD, Öztürk Türkdoğan, said security officials were insistent on military operations, but also criticized the PKK for holding hostages for so long.