PKK confirms arrest of Turkish intelligence officials in Sulaimani

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A senior member of the PKK umbrella group has confirmed that they have arrested “officials” of the Turkish intelligence agency, MIT, in Sulaimani, adding that if they find it necessary, they are prepared to release names and photos to the media.

Diyar Xerib, a senior member of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), told a media outlet affiliated with the PKK that they have restrained from publishing news about the arrests of the intelligence officials because they do not want to create problems.

“No doubt the PKK can publish news about the arrest of the MIT officials who wanted to make the Sulaimani area a place to carry out their dirty operations, the biggest of which was to assassinate a prominent PKK official,” Xerib told Roj News on Monday.

He said they refrained from going public because they do not want to put the administration in Sulaimani or the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) into a difficult situation.

The PUK is one of the main ruling parties in Kurdistan Region and has de facto control over the security forces in Sulaimani. On August 23, Turkey expelled the PUK representative to Ankara.

PUK officials, including party spokesperson Saadi Ahmad Pira, have said Ankara’s action followed a “failed operation” in Sulaimani, without giving more details.

Xerib said the PKK is prepared to give information of the identity of the MIT agents to the media and Turkey should be thankful the PKK has not done so yet.

The PUK have said that they were not pre-informed about the Turkish operation and stressed that MIT does not have a right to conduct operations against a Kurdish party in Kurdistan.

“The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has been paying for its Kurdistani policy and for its lack of cooperation with the countries that Kurdistan has been divided among,” Pira told Voice of America on Thursday.

“This time it is the same. There was an act, an intelligence operation conducted by Turkey. It was not successful. Not only was it not successful, it even ended with damage inflicted on the Turks,” Pira added.

“They blame the PUK for not helping them,” Pira explained. “First of all, they do not have the right to conduct operations in another country, and second, they did not inform anyone beforehand.”

Pira said Turkey has tried to cover their failure by expelling the PUK representative to Ankara.

Pira and Qubad Talabani, deputy prime minister and son of PUK leader Jalal Talabani, met with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu during the minister’s visit to Erbil on Wednesday. One topic discussed was Ankara’s decision to expel the PUK’s representative, though details of their conversation have not been disclosed.

Behruz Galali, the PUK’s representative to Ankara, said at a press conference after he was expelled that the Turkish foreign ministry contacted him while still in Turkey to express their concerns.

“They are uncomfortable regarding the policies of the security forces," in Sulaimani, Galali said on Thursday.

While he said that Turkey should be blamed for what happened, the Kurdish security in Sulaimani should also be held partly responsible.

He said the security forces should not allow states and political parties to do whatever they wish within what he called PUK’s zone that also includes Halabja province.

The PKK are headquartered in Kurdistan Region’s Qandil Mountain, located on the Turkish border and adjacent to the PUK territory.

The PKK also has friendly ties with the PUK, though they fought against each other in the past.

There have been unverified reports that Turkey has stopped visa application for the residents of Sulaimani since at least Thursday over the PUK-Ankara tensions.

Rudaw English has contacted the Turkish embassy in Baghdad and its consulate in Erbil since then but has not received any comments back.

One Sulaimani-based tourism agency contacted by Rudaw English on Thursday claimed that visas for the people of Sulaimani who want to visit the country by land were terminated.

Electronic visas which applies to those wishing to visit Turkey via air is going as normal, the head of the Sulaimani International Airport told Rudaw on Saturday.

PKK confirms arrest of Turkish intelligence officials in Sulaimani

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