A recent meeting between the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Masoud Barzani, who has no official position in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MİT) Ibrahim Kalın, in Erbil (Hewlêr) has reignited allegations that the KDP is cooperating with Turkey in its military operations in northern Iraq.
Kalın met with other key figures in the region, including the KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, Interior Minister Reber Ahmed and local leaders. He also met with Iraqi Turkmen Front chairman Hasan Turan and its MP for Kirkuk (Kerkûk) Ershat Salih during his visit to Erbil.
The talks covered various developments in the region, bilateral relations and Turkey’s concerns regarding the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to a written statement from MİT.
“Turkey’s determination in the fight against terrorism was clearly impressed on our interlocutors during the talks,” MİT said.
Last week, Kalın visited the Iraqi capital Baghdad, where he held talks with Iraqi President Abdullatif Jamal Rashid and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, as well as Shia and Sunni groups and Turkmen representatives.
President Rashid, who is also a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), confronted the Turkish intelligence chief during the meeting, over alleged violations in Sulaymaniyah governorate, and called for joint efforts to resolve issues affecting the Kurdistan Region.
Kalın’s meetings come in the wake of significant losses for the Turkish armed forces in their operations against the PKK in northern Iraq, an intensification of the Turkish attacks on Kurdish areas in both Iraq and Syria, and the Kirkuk elections, in which Turkey has been accused of manipulating the political agenda.