PKK wants to control Erbil administration,'has almost controlled' Sulaimani, claims Turkish FM

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) plans to take control of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)-held areas of the Kurdistan Region – and is already on the brink of controlling Sulaimani, Turkey's foreign minister claimed on Tuesday.

“It [the PKK] has almost controlled Sulaimani, its cities and 1,000 of its villages. Actually, the PKK’s aim is to control the Erbil administration [as well],” Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a joint press conference with Congo's foreign minister Jean-Claude Gakosso in Ankara.

“Our Kurdish brothers have been the main victims of PKK oppression,” Cavusoglu said, adding that the group has “forcibly” recruited children in the Kurdistan Region.

The “Erbil administration” refers to the provinces of Duhok and Erbil, areas controlled by the KDP. The KDP has strong ties with Ankara, but thorny relations with the PKK, a Kurdish armed group which fights for cultural and political rights for Kurds in Turkey. Sulaimani, dominated by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), has had better relations with the PKK, angering Ankara. 

The Turkish foreign minister has previously made claims of PKK dominance in Sulaimani, accusing both the PUK and the Change Movement (Gorran) of backing the PKK in June 2018.

Both parties responded to the accusation. The PUK said it had been left "astonished" by Cavusoglu's comments, while Gorran said it "would not hide that it will support Kurds outside the Kurdistan Region.”

This is, however, Cavusoglu's first such claim about Erbil.

The PKK is yet to respond to Cavusoglu’s Tuesday claim. 

Ankara and the PKK have fought in armed clashes since 1984, resulting in the deaths of over 40,000 people from both sides, including civilians. Much of the fighting in recent years has taken place in the Kurdistan Region, after the PKK retreated from some parts of Turkey and withdrew from others as part of 2013 peace process concessions.

The PKK has had a presence along much of the Kurdistan Region's border with Turkey, controlling areas of Duhok, Erbil and Sulaimani provinces where villages lie.  Turkey said in July that it has 37 "military points" in the Kurdistan Region, including one each in the cities of Duhok, Erbil, Soran and Zakho.

Turkey launched an air and ground offensive against the PKK in mid-June. It announced the end of its ground campaign, Operation Claw-Tiger, on Saturday. At least eight civilians were killed in the operation. Turkey has continued with its air offensive, bombing six villages in Duhok province on Tuesday.