Iraq’s ban on PKK marks pivotal moment in its ties with Türkiye

by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, March 15 (Xinhua) — For the first time, Türkiye and Iraq have decided to jointly act against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a move that signals an alignment of the two neighbors’ stances on the issue after years of tension, experts said.

The Iraq National Security Council has officially banned the PKK, which has been engaged in an armed campaign against Turkish forces for Kurdish self-rule inside Türkiye since the early 1980s, according to a statement released after a high-level security meeting between the two countries held in Baghdad on Thursday.

During the meeting, attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yasar Guler, Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization, and senior Iraqi officials, discussions centered on measures against the PKK, which Baghdad claims poses a security threat to Iraq and Türkiye.

In a post on the social media platform X late on Thursday, Nuh Yilmaz, a senior advisor at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, described Baghdad’s decision to cooperate with Ankara against the PKK as a “turning point.”

The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, and the European Union, is based in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, an area where Türkiye frequently conducts airstrikes and maintains military outposts.

“Baghdad’s decision is certainly significant. Türkiye has been actively engaging with the central government in Iraq, seeking to involve Baghdad in a broader security network to counter the PKK. These efforts now appear to have borne fruit,” said Batu Coskun, a research fellow at Libya’s Sadeq Institute.

According to the Ankara-based foreign policy analyst, there has been a shift from Ankara’s previous policy of “developing strategic ties” with the Kurdistan Regional Government, which had strong ties with Türkiye in the security, economic, and political areas.

He highlighted that the “coordination of an offensive with Iraq is expected to add a strategic edge to Turkish operations and could prove a major milestone in the fight against the PKK.”

The Iraqi government has long accused Türkiye of violating its sovereignty through air and ground attacks in the Kurdistan region, an issue that has strained bilateral relations for years.

Oytun Orhan, a senior expert at the Ankara-based Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies, said that Baghdad’s decision signifies a “dramatic shift” from its previous stance.

“This move would establish a comprehensive cooperation between forces of the two countries against the PKK,” he said, stressing, however, that concrete results on the field should be monitored.

Iraq’s decision to ban the PKK comes ahead of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the country in April. This visit by the Turkish leader will be the first of its kind in more than a decade.

“Preparations are underway for this landmark visit, which is expected to open a new chapter in bilateral relations,” a Turkish diplomatic source told Xinhua on the condition of anonymity.

The PKK killed dozens of Turkish soldiers in the past few months, which has triggered a domestic outrage and raised questions about the effectiveness of the Turkish army’s operations in Iraq.

In February, Erdogan warned of a major military operation against PKK outposts in Iraq during the summer to safeguard the “Development Road” project, a highway and railway trade route that would connect the Gulf to Türkiye through Iraq.

Since 2019, Türkiye has initiated a series of cross-border military operations, including Claw Eagle and Tiger in 2020, Claw-Lighting and Thunderbolt in 2021, and Claw-Lock in 2022, targeting PKK mountainous hideouts with the objective of eradicating the group.  ■