Iraqi government tells institutions to use term ‘banned PKK’
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The General Secretariat of the Iraqi Council of Ministers has addressed a letter to all state institutions directing them to attach the term “banned” to any mention of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in official correspondences and documents.
The letter was signed by director of the secretariat’s administrative department Falah al-Aboudi dated July 14 and reached the parliament on Tuesday. The decision was issued based on the order of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani.
“The prime minister/commander-in-chief of the armed forces [Sudani] has directed applying the designation (the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party) in all official correspondences and writings in which the party is mentioned,” read the letter seen by Rudaw English.
MP Soran Omar of the Kurdistan Justice Group (Komal) told Rudaw’s Hastyar Qadir that, in accordance with the letter, Baghdad will treat the PKK as a “banned” organization moving forward.
The Iraqi National Security Council banned the PKK in March from operating in the country, following a top security meeting with a Turkish delegation in Baghdad. The decision came ahead of the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Iraq.
“Both sides stressed that the PKK organization represents a security threat to both Turkey and Iraq, and it is certain that the presence of the organization on Iraqi territory represents a violation of the Iraqi constitution,” read a joint statement from the foreign ministries of Iraq and Turkey in March.
The PKK is an armed group that has struggled for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey for decades. It is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara, which has launched numerous operations against the group and its alleged offshoots in the Kurdistan Region and Syria.
Ankara has recently increased its attacks against the PKK in the Kurdistan Region, establishing checkpoints in several villages in Duhok province, leading to the deaths of locals and the displacement of villagers.
The letter was signed by director of the secretariat’s administrative department Falah al-Aboudi dated July 14 and reached the parliament on Tuesday. The decision was issued based on the order of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani.
“The prime minister/commander-in-chief of the armed forces [Sudani] has directed applying the designation (the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party) in all official correspondences and writings in which the party is mentioned,” read the letter seen by Rudaw English.
MP Soran Omar of the Kurdistan Justice Group (Komal) told Rudaw’s Hastyar Qadir that, in accordance with the letter, Baghdad will treat the PKK as a “banned” organization moving forward.
The Iraqi National Security Council banned the PKK in March from operating in the country, following a top security meeting with a Turkish delegation in Baghdad. The decision came ahead of the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Iraq.
“Both sides stressed that the PKK organization represents a security threat to both Turkey and Iraq, and it is certain that the presence of the organization on Iraqi territory represents a violation of the Iraqi constitution,” read a joint statement from the foreign ministries of Iraq and Turkey in March.
The PKK is an armed group that has struggled for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey for decades. It is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara, which has launched numerous operations against the group and its alleged offshoots in the Kurdistan Region and Syria.
Ankara has recently increased its attacks against the PKK in the Kurdistan Region, establishing checkpoints in several villages in Duhok province, leading to the deaths of locals and the displacement of villagers.