Iraq rejects Turkey’s new military ‘incursions’ into Kurdistan

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s National Security Council met on Wednesday, discussing Turkey’s new military activities on the Kurdistan Region’s borders. It rejected Ankara’s “incursions” and called on its northern neighbor to respect its sovereignty. 

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, chaired a meeting of the National Security Council, addressing “the issue of interventions and violations by Turkish forces in the shared border areas, affirming the rejection of Turkish military incursions and the infringement on Iraqi territories,” read a statement from Yehia Rasool, Sudani’s military spokesperson. 

“The council emphasized that Turkey must adhere to the principles of good neighborliness and diplomatically engage with the Iraqi government for any security-related matters,” it added.

Sudani decided to dispatch a top delegation, headed by the national security advisor, to the Kurdistan Region to “assess the general situation and develop a unified stance on this matter, which concerns Iraqi sovereignty.”

Turkey has deployed a large number of troops to the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province since mid-June. The move has caused an escalation in Ankara’s decades-long war against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the area.

“Since the start of the new Turkish military operation, Turkey has conducted 238 bombardments in Iraqi Kurdistan, primarily in the Duhok governorate,” said the US-based Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a rights group which closely monitors Turkey-PKK conflict, on Sunday. 

“As a result of Turkish bombardments, more than 20,000 dunams of agricultural lands have burned, primarily in the villages of Guharze, Balave, Barche, Sargale, Kane, and Ashke Dere in the Amedi region. Furthermore, in the village of Sargale approximately 55% of its agricultural land has been burnt by Turkish attacks. Turkish operations in Iraqi Kurdistan place at least 602 villages under the threat of displacement with at least 162 already displaced,” it added. 

Iraq labeled the PKK a banned organization earlier this year ahead of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rare visit to the country in April. Baghdad and Ankara signed dozens of agreements during Erdogan’s visit which covered a range of issues, including security.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has yet to comment on the fresh escalations on the border but its interior ministry told reporters on Tuesday that Baghdad, Erbil, and Ankara were discussing the matter. 

“The presence of the PKK gives [Turkey] an excuse to carry out such activities. The presence of the PKK is illegal,” Reber Ahmed said, adding that “PKK should leave these areas so that the residents of these villages no longer have to be displaced.”

Numerous wildfires have erupted in the conflict zones in recent weeks, damaging orchards which were the main source of income of the villagers. 

Turkey and the PKK have blamed one another for the wildfires.