Security forces raid PUK-affiliated TV channel in Sulaimani

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Security forces raided a Sulaimani-based media channel affiliated with one of the co-chairs of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) on Tuesday, detaining some of its employees, sources told Rudaw.

The security forces broke and seized equipment, as well as detained some employees briefly, two staff members of iPLUS TV told Rudaw's Hemin Baban.

When the forces arrived, they asked everyone at the office to leave, but no one did, they added.

iPLUS TV is a new media channel affiliated with Lahur Talabany, co-chair of PUK. The channel was scheduled to start broadcasting soon.

“The channel is PUK’s property and it’s owned by the PUK, it’s a party channel not an independent one,” a senior PUK official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Rudaw’s Salar Sangawi. 

“Anything that has been built with PUK’s money is a PUK property and it has to be given back to the PUK,” he added.

The incident comes after Bafel Talabani, who was serving as PUK co-chair for over a year, changed his Facebook and Twitter bios to “president” of the PUK after tensions with his cousin and fellow co-chair Lahur Talabany. The party’s official media also named Bafel Talabani president in an article on Monday.

Metro Center for Journalists Rights and Advocacy condemned the attack and called on the PUK to not let disputes within the party interfere with the freedom of the press.

“Metro Center strongly condemns the attack on the iPLUS channel by an armed force in Sulaimani,” the center said, asking the PUK to not let the conflicts within the party “silence and limit the freedom of the press.”

Last week, rumors spread that Bafel Talabani and his brother Qubad Talabani, current deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan Region, were trying to change the heads of the PUK’s intelligence agency and counter-terrorism units. The rumors were confirmed on Sunday when the brothers officially inaugurated the two new chiefs in Sulaimani.

The former heads were closely affiliated with Lahur Talabany, including his brother Polad who was head of the counter-terror unit. The replacements are believed to be closer to Bafel Talabani.

Lahur Talabany and Bafel Talabani were elected as co-chairs of the PUK in February 2020, following years of wrangling within the party over who would succeed the late Jalal Talabani, who died in 2017. The party did not hold a congress to elect a new leader until December 2019, largely because of internal rivalries. At the congress, the party adopted a co-leadership and the cousins were elected to the posts two months later.