Vedant Patel, the US State Department Spokesperson, has indicated a de-facto US green light for the Turkish occupation of swathes of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Turkey has moved thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks into Duhok governorate in Iraqi Kurdistan over the last week, in an escalation of its attacks on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
There have been more than 800 attacks on the KRI this year, according to the Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) – an international group monitoring the area.
On 4 July CPT reported that 45 tanks had been moved into the village of Sergel in Duhok governorate. Meanwhile, farmers in Sidakan district have been forced to relocate because of the Turkish army’s bombardment.
“Of the total 1,617 kilometres of Sidakan area, 46 percent is no longer under our control, due to Turkey’s entry to a depth of 30 kilometres and fighting between Turkey and the PKK,” Ihsan Chalabi, the district mayor of Sidakan, stated.
When questioned about the US position, Patel said simply: “We have urged our partners in the government of Turkey to coordinate with both Iraqi and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq authorities on any cross-border military operations to protect civilians from harm.”
In April 2024, both the Iraqi Federal government and the KDP gave the go ahead to a Turkish invasion of Northern Iraq, in return for a lucrative Turkish deal on infrastructure, oil and water. The deal was made after a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayipp Erdoğan to Erbil (Hewler). The KDP and the Iraqi Federal government have agreed to coordinate with the Turkish military’s operations against the PKK. Patel’s comments indicate that the US is supporting this coordination.
Patel made a tokenistic call on the Turkish military to respect Iraqi sovereignty:
“We certainly recognise the threat posed by the PKK but we urge the Turkish government to respect Iraqi sovereignty and to coordinate these kind of military operations.”
The Turkish military has installed new military checkpoints in the region, and is reportedly stopping civilians and demanding IDs. Kurdish journalist Diyar Kurda questioned Patel about whether the US supported these checkpoints. Patel dodged the question, and reiterated his previous point calling for ‘security coordination’ with the authorities in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
“Going back to the cross border operation with Turkey is there something that you have concern about this operation. Because Turkey has set up checkpoints across the region and they are taking IDs from the civilians people there. This is a big concern for the people living in that region. Is this something concerning you?” Kurda asked.
“In any region of the world where we see civilians placed in risk it is of course something of concern to us – that’s why we will be making sure to engage closely with our partners in Turkey to make clear that when such kind of strikes are being undertaken that they need to be coordinated with authorities in the Kurdistan region as well as Iraq.”
“However, there are as I said, legitimate concerns from the PKK and we understand those but we continue to call for greater coordination to ensure that civilians are protected from harm,” Patel replied, skilfully evading the question.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that another high-ranking Turkish delegation is likely to visit Baghdad in the coming days.
