Türkiye closed its airspace to aircraft traveling to and from Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah amid concerns over the rise in terrorism activity in the region, the Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday.
The statement came a day after carrier flag Turkish Airlines (THY) announced its flights to the northern Iraqi city had been canceled until Thursday.
In a statement, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç said the closure took effect on April 3 and was expected to remain in force until July 3.
“This decision was taken within the framework of the intensification of the activities of the PKK terrorist group in Sulaymaniyah, the penetration of the terrorist group into the airport and thus the threat to flight safety,” Bilgiç said.
“The decision, which is expected to be valid until July 3, 2023, in the first stage, will be reviewed again in the light of the developments that we will closely monitor until this date,” he added.
Türkiye has long been stressing that it will not tolerate terrorist threats against national security and called on Iraqi officials to take the necessary steps to eliminate the PKK terrorist group.
Ankara previously noted that it would not avoid targeting terrorist threats if the expected steps were not taken. However, in the last two years, intensifying operations in northern Iraq have demolished terrorist lairs in Metina, Avashin-Basyan, Zap and Gara. After eradicating the group’s influence in these regions, Türkiye also aims to clear Qandil, Sinjar and Makhmour.
The Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq are the PKK’s stronghold, and the group is active in many nearby cities and towns. In addition, it occupies many villages in the region from where it launches attacks on Türkiye.
The announcement on Wednesday came more than a week after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan welcomed Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Ankara, where he called on the Iraqi people to recognize the PKK as a terrorist organization.
For his part, al-Sudani stressed that Iraq would not allow any terror group to use its territory for attacks on Türkiye.
