Turkey has extended its ban on flights to and from Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq until 3 January 2024.
The ban, initially imposed by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on 3 April, was set to expire on 3 July, with a scheduled reassessment of the situation on that date. However, Heval Ebubekir, the Governor of Sulaymaniyah, confirmed the extension of the ban, according to reports from Rojnews.
In its annoucement on 5 April regarding closure of its airfields to flights to and from Sulaymaniyah, Turkey justified its decision as a response to “the intensification of activities by the PKK terrorist organisation in Sulaymaniyah, their infiltration of the airport and the subsequent threat to flight safety [which] prompted the decision.”
The flight ban has a significant impact on the local economy, especially in the tourism sector, which relies heavily on Turkish visitors.
