Iraq’s National Security Council announced without parliamentary approval on Thursday that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) would be banned from operating in the country, following a high-level security meeting with a Turkish delegation in Baghdad. While both sides came together to recognise the PKK as a security threat to both Iraq and Turkey, the move falls short of Turkey’s demand that the group be designated a ‘terrorist organisation’.
The high-level meeting between Ankara and Baghdad comes as Turkey prepares for a renewed military campaign in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Turkish authorities have held extensive talks with both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to secure local support for the success of their operations.
The meeting, which took place on 14 March, was attended by key officials from both Iraq and Turkey, notably Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.
In a joint statement issued by the foreign ministries of Ankara and Baghdad, both parties emphasised the PKK’s status as a security threat to both nations. They underlined that the PKK’s presence on Iraqi soil is contrary to the Iraqi constitution.
Turkey has long urged the Iraqi government to declare the PKK a terrorist organisation and to support its cross-border operations. The Iraqi government, on the other hand, has opposed Turkey’s air and ground operations within Iraq’s borders, calling them a “violation of Iraq’s territorial integrity” and refusing to recognise the PKK as a terrorist organisation.
Iraq’s ban on PKK activities within its borders is the first Iraqi decision on the issue to be ratified by Turkey, but it still does not meet all of Turkey’s demands.
Qassim al-Araji, the adviser for national security affairs to Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, expressed Iraq’s intention to handle the PKK in a manner similar to how they dealt with Iranian Kurdish dissident groups situated in northern Iraq, the Associated Press reported.
Iraq had evacuated the Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups’ bases in the KRI in September 2023 following a bilateral agreement between Iran and Iraq. The groups are now considered refugees.
Murat Karayılan, a member of the PKK’s executive committee, said in a statement on the security meetings and diplomatic talks between Turkey and Iraq that Turkey has been pressing Iraq for a long time over the new trade route and the water dispute. Karayılan warned that it was “not in Iraq’s interest” for Iraq to support the new military operation being prepared by Turkish forces, saying that the Iraqi government would be “legitimising the occupation of the Turkish state”.
Turkey has been trying to influence Iraq, which opposes Turkey’s actions against the PKK, by supporting a trade route project. Baghdad is keen on the development road project, or New Silk Road, to revive its oil-based economy, which has suffered from regional dynamics. Observers suggest that Turkey is trying to force the Iraqi government to support the operations, arguing that the PKK poses a threat to the project, jeopardising its completion scheduled for 2029.
Recent remarks by Turkish Defence Minister Yaşar Güler, during a visit to the Iraqi-Turkish border, suggesting an expectation of cooperation from the Iraqi government and hinting at possible sanctions against Iraq in case of non-compliance, indicate the pressure Karayılan referred to.
The water dispute has also been a contentious issue for Iraq for some time. Iraq is heavily dependent on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for its water supply, both of which originate in Turkey. The construction of dams in Turkey has significantly reduced the flow of these rivers, leading to water shortages in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Iraqi border forces have increased their presence in areas of the Kurdistan Region likely to be affected by the planned Turkish offensive, particularly in Duhok province.
Turkey regularly conducts ground offensives in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and has established several military bases on Iraqi soil to support its controversial cross-border operations. Turkey’s military activities have led to an increase in civilian casualties.
Ground offensives are common, with Turkey establishing military bases in Iraq to support these operations. The military campaigns target Kurdish guerrilla forces in specific areas such as Zap, Metina and Avashin. Air strikes are also frequent, with 6,000 reported between 2018 and June 2023. The most recent statistics show 428 strikes in civilian areas over a two-month period. Since 2015, Turkish strikes have killed 154 civilians and injured 220, mainly in Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, Erbil, Nineveh and Sinjar. There’s widespread resentment towards Turkey among the region’s inhabitants.
