ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A factory in Turkey’s Trabzon province was raided by Turkish nationalists for producing hats for a Kurdish alliance taking part in the Iraqi elections, local media outlets reported on Thursday. The hats were set ablaze in the middle of the street. Municipal teams and the mayor of Salpazari district Refik Kurukiz raided the factory on the grounds that the production of hats for the Kurdistan Coalition was ‘illegal,’ reported Duvar News Agency. The hats were collected and burned in the middle of the street. The Kurdistan Coalition is an electoral alliance based in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region formed by both Change Movement (Gorran) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in early May to enter Iraq’s parliamentary elections scheduled for October 10. The factory was printing the coalition’s logo on the hats. Rudaw English has reached out to the Kurdistan Coalition for comment on the incident, but did not receive a response at the time of publication. Kurukiz claimed that the colors of the hats resembled the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) emblem and colors, according to Duvar. The PKK is an armed Kurdish group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. Ankara considers it a terrorist organization. “We are saddened that the emblem that will serve the PKK organization was produced here,” the media outlet quoted the mayor as saying. “The emblem of those who want to divide our country can’t be produced here." The Kurdistan Region is a main importer of Turkish goods. Some Turkish companies have already opened branches in the Kurdistan Region and there are regular trade exchanges between the two. Shops and tradesmen often purchase orders from Turkish factories. However, attacks on Kurds in the country are common. There is a long history of animosity and conflict over Kurdish issues and rights in Turkey. The state has at times denied the very existence of Kurds. The word “Kurdistan” is banned from parliament, Kurdish private media have repeatedly been shut down, and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) is under immense pressure with hundreds of its members thrown in jail.
