Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council has announced the closure of the Yazidi Freedom and Democracy Party (PADÊ), the Kurdistan Society Freedom Movement (Tevgera Azadî) and the Party of the Democratic Struggle (PTD), citing alleged affiliation with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The court’s decision calls for the closure of the three parties’ offices and seizure of assets on the basis of Act No.32, a law originally established in 2015 to prevent the return of the Baath Party to Iraq.
Baghdad’s move appears to be aimed at curbing the influence of the PKK and its affiliates within Iraq to maintain positive diplomatic and security relations with Turkey.
The decision comes amid a renewed Turkish military incursion into Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), with Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) building up military bases in the region and TAF attacks killing at least nine civilians and injuring two this year alone. A suspected Turkish drone attack on Sinjar left one journalist dead and three people injured just last month.
The Iraqi prime minister last month instructed state institutions to officially label the PKK a “banned organisation” in state affairs. A high-level delegation from the Turkish government visited Baghdad in March, prompting the Iraqi government to officially categorise the PKK a threat to its security and classified it a banned group in the country.
In contrast, a recent report by Rojnews highlighted the crucial role played by PKK armed forces in the defence of Sinjar and major cities such as Kirkuk (Kerkûk) against ISIS in 2014, after the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) forces withdrew, leaving the Yazidi people defenceless against ISIS.
The closures come as a shock to many just days after the 10th anniversary of the genocide against the Yazidis in the Sinjar region. Over the last decade the Yazidi community has worked tirelessly to organise themselves politically through the PADÊ and rebuild villages destroyed by ISIS in the Yazidi homelands.
