PUK council members not aware of planned PKK attacks: security council spox

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — An anonymous spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) has said Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) members of the council were not aware of planned attacks the council attributed to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in a Monday statement, according to PUK media.

“The Kurdistan Region Security Council is made of five members … out of these five members three are PUK and only two are KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party}. After inquiring from the three members of the PUK… it transpired that the PUK officials were not aware of such operations that were released in a statement in the name of the KRSC,” an anonymous spokesperson was quoted by PUK media as saying.

“The PUK members of the council from reject this statement and statements like this from the council …and they will not allow statements to be released in the name of the council without first being consulted,” the statement added.

The KRSC announced on Monday that it had arrested 17 suspects planning "sabotage attacks" aiming to target diplomatic missions, businesses and a governor, suspecting the PKK to be behind some of the plots. 

"Two specific sets of planned attacks, including one set by the PKK, were uncovered and prevented through the close coordination of police, security, intelligence and counter-terrorism officials across the Kurdistan Region," the KRSC said in a Facebook post.

The alleged attacks targeted diplomatic missions, businesses and a governor, according to the KRSC.

The PKK later dismissed the claims as “baseless and completely untrue.”

“This distorting news was created in cooperation and coordination with Turkish intelligence (MIT) and its aim is to pave the way to legitimize their attack on our movement,” PKK-affiliated Rojnews reported on Monday evening.

The PKK, a Kurdish group fighting for increased rights for Kurds in Turkey, is under extreme pressure from Ankara, who has deployed forces to target them inside Iraqi territory and conducts daily reconnaissance and strikes against the group.

The main bulk of PKK fighters, which has fought the Turkish state since 1984, are stationed in mountains across the Kurdistan Region, including in the Qandil mountain range. The group has been involved in fierce clashes with Turkish soldiers since mid-June when Ankara launched an air and ground operation to root out the militants, primarily from the Haftanin area in Duhok province.

The PKK and KDP are seen as rivals as both parties influence stretches of Kurdish areas across four parts of greater Kurdistan in Iran, Syria, Turkey and Iraq. The KDP, PUK and the PKK fought bloody wars against each other in the 1990s.

Murat Karayilan, a top PKK official, rejected the allegations and said that Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials blame the PKK for everything. 

"The head of Asayish (security) in Sarzer was killed and they said it was the PKK... in truth, we are shocked, I said we have no plan to act or carry out attacks against any side in South [Kurdistan] or any officials from the KRG," Karayilan said during a TV interview affiliated with the group to be broadcast on Tuesday.

"The establishment of the KRG is an achievement for every Kurd, it is an achievement that is the result of decades of struggle...we do not see ourselves as the replacement of the KRG, this is not the truth and there is no basis for these allegations."

The KDP is in a governing coalition with the PUK and other parties, but tension has been running high as the new cabinet tries to tackle the monumental challenges stemming from the economic crisis that has engulfed the region, partly due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, a drop in oil prices, disagreements with Baghdad and years of economic mismanagement.

In recent years, Turkey has become more aggressive in targeting the PKK, using scores of domestically-built drones for use in both mountainous and urban areas. Turkey targeted two senior members of the PKK on Goizha mountaintop, overlooking the city of Sulaimani, in October 2019.

Ankara has put economic pressure on both the PUK and the KDP to stop or restrict the guerilla operations in the Kurdistan region in recent years. Turkish officials have repeatedly said that the PKK has free reign in Sulaimani and has called on the PUK to stop its activities.

KRG officials have called on both Turkey and the PKK to take their fight elsewhere and stop using the Kurdistan Region as a battleground.
Dozens of Kurdish civilians have died in recent years as a result of the fighting and Turkish airstrikes in the Kurdistan Region. Scores of villages have also been emptied as residents flee persistent bombing.