The newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed has reported that officials from Baghdad and Erbil (Hewlêr) authorities have granted Turkey permission to target positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). This authorisation reportedly came from discussions held this week involving representatives from both the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). This development follows a series of diplomatic engagements by Turkey over recent months.
According to Kurdistan Watch, Iraqi forces are reportedly planning to establish a joint operations room to collaborate on intelligence and engage in information sharing with the Turkish military.
According to Al-Arabi al-Jadeed Newspaper:
• Erdogan has returned to Ankara with the consent of Baghdad and Erbil, who have granted approval for a military operation against the PKK within a depth of 40 km.
• The roles of the Iraqi army and Peshmerga in assisting the Turkish…
— Kurdistan Watch (@KurdistanWatch) April 25, 2024
Turkish airstrikes have killed at least ten people in Iraq this year. However, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the Turkish military has now been authorised to conduct military operations in the KRI, extending more than 40 kilometres into the region and purportedly targeting pockets and positions of PKK militants in unpopulated areas.
Several reports in recent weeks have surfaced regarding an alleged agreement between Turkey and Iraq on establishing a 40km-deep security zone within Iraqi territory from the Turkish border to counter the PKK. However, the specifics remain unclear.
If applied to the entire… pic.twitter.com/94bOmNymYA
— Kurdistan Watch (@KurdistanWatch) April 25, 2024
Iraq agreed to ban the PKK following a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in March, although a spokesman for the Iraqi government later confirmed that PKK members in Iraq would be treated as political refugees.
Iraqi media sources are now reporting that Erdoğan has been given the green light to carry out military operations in the “Gara Mountains, Qandil, Saidkan, Suran, Sayyid Sadiq, Kani Masi, Alzab, Zakho, and Amadiyah.” The Turkish authorities have reportedly been instructed to ensure that the attacks are carried out in “uninhabited areas” which are inaccessible to Peshmerga forces.
Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reports that these concessions were given to Turkey in return for agreements with the Turkish state over water and the $17bn Iraqi Development Road Project. This week’s meetings have also paved the way for restarting the flow of oil from Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkey.
“Iraq is serious about moving forward with all understandings with Turkey, and there are understandings that will very soon begin to be implemented,” said Sabhan al-Mulla Jayyad, political adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiya al-Sudani, speaking to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. “The agreements are considered historic and are happening for the first time in many decades,” he added.
“There is now an agreement to besiege and fight the PKK to ensure Iraq’s stability, as well as prevent the use of the territory for any aggression against Turkey or any of its neighbours,” stated Ali al-Bandaw, from the Iraqi parliament’s Security and Defence Committee. “Iraq does not have the capabilities to carry out any joint military action with Turkey against the PKK, as this matter has many caveats, but Iraq may work to coordinate in terms of intelligence information, which is very possible,” he explained.
