Turkish flight ban on Sulaimani airport ‘unjustified’, says parliamentary committee
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Transport and Communications Committee of the Iraqi parliament on Sunday slammed Turkey’s flight ban on the Sulaimani airport, stating that the airport has no issues, and the ban is “unjustified.”
“Our committee, through this field visit and initial investigations, has concluded that Sulaimani international airport … has no administrative, technical, security, or service issues,” said a statement from the committee that was read inside the Iraqi parliament.
The parliamentary delegation visited the Sulaimani airport earlier this month to “closely observe” the imposed sanctions by the Turkish government on the airport. Due to the ban, flights from Turkey to Sulaimani and flights passing through Turkish airspace to Sulaimani, have been suspended.
“The decision of neighboring Turkey was an unjustified decision,” it added.
The committee called on the Iraqi government, and other parliamentary committees “to take serious and practical steps to end the sanctions imposed on the Sulaimani international airport.”
Turkey imposed a ban on the airport in April 2023, then-Turkish foreign ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgic said that the flight ban was in response to an alleged “intensification” of PKK activities in Sulaimani province, referring to the crash of two helicopters carrying Syrian Kurdish fighters a month prior.
Nine members of the anti-terrorism forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were killed in the crash, including their commander, according to the SDF. The helicopters were bound for Sulaimani.
Turkish officials have repeatedly accused Sulaimani authorities of supporting the PKK and the flight ban is not the first time Ankara has taken punitive measures against the province. Officials in Sulaimani deny Ankara’s claims.
Following Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum in 2017, international airspace to Erbil and Sulaimani airports was ordered closed by the Iraqi federal government. Turkey and most other countries re-opened their airspace to planes bound for Erbil in March 2018. However, Ankara refused to allow flights bound for Sulaimani, citing alleged support for the PKK by the province’s ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
Turkey extended the ban on the airport until December 7, 2024, Handren Mufti, the director of Sulaimani International Airport, told Rudaw last month.
“Our committee, through this field visit and initial investigations, has concluded that Sulaimani international airport … has no administrative, technical, security, or service issues,” said a statement from the committee that was read inside the Iraqi parliament.
The parliamentary delegation visited the Sulaimani airport earlier this month to “closely observe” the imposed sanctions by the Turkish government on the airport. Due to the ban, flights from Turkey to Sulaimani and flights passing through Turkish airspace to Sulaimani, have been suspended.
“The decision of neighboring Turkey was an unjustified decision,” it added.
The committee called on the Iraqi government, and other parliamentary committees “to take serious and practical steps to end the sanctions imposed on the Sulaimani international airport.”
Turkey imposed a ban on the airport in April 2023, then-Turkish foreign ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgic said that the flight ban was in response to an alleged “intensification” of PKK activities in Sulaimani province, referring to the crash of two helicopters carrying Syrian Kurdish fighters a month prior.
Nine members of the anti-terrorism forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were killed in the crash, including their commander, according to the SDF. The helicopters were bound for Sulaimani.
Turkish officials have repeatedly accused Sulaimani authorities of supporting the PKK and the flight ban is not the first time Ankara has taken punitive measures against the province. Officials in Sulaimani deny Ankara’s claims.
Following Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum in 2017, international airspace to Erbil and Sulaimani airports was ordered closed by the Iraqi federal government. Turkey and most other countries re-opened their airspace to planes bound for Erbil in March 2018. However, Ankara refused to allow flights bound for Sulaimani, citing alleged support for the PKK by the province’s ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
Turkey extended the ban on the airport until December 7, 2024, Handren Mufti, the director of Sulaimani International Airport, told Rudaw last month.