Terror group PKK, along with its Syrian offshoot YPG, are a "major headache" to both Irbil and Baghdad, according to the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), a semi-autonomous entity controlling Iraq’s north.
The KRG categorically rejects the PKK’s use of its territory against Türkiye, Nechirvan Barzani told the Saudi Al-Arabiya news channel on Thursday, meaning the mountainous region a few hundred kilometers from the Turkish border that PKK terrorists use as a hideout and a headquarters.
The PKK poses a threat to neighboring countries and is a "big headache" for Irbil and Baghdad, Barzani said.
Barzani's remarks came after Türkiye's national defense minister paid a visit to the KRG last week and the intelligence chief met the Iraqi president and prime minister, as well as representatives of Shiite, Sunni and Turkmen groups in a visit to the region earlier this month.
The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, Britain and the European Union – is responsible for over 40,000 civilian and security personnel deaths in Türkiye during an almost four-decadelong campaign of terror.
The YPG/PYD is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.
Since Turkish operations have driven its domestic presence to near extinction, the PKK has moved a large chunk of its operations to northern Iraq. Ankara maintains dozens of military bases there, and it regularly launches operations against the PKK, which uses a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains, located roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border in Irbil.
After the PKK killed 21 Turkish soldiers in the Metina region, Ankara intensified airstrikes on PKK targets and hideouts in the region.
Türkiye has also criticized the PKK's gaining footing in the KRG-run city of Sulaymaniyah and warned "further measures" would be taken if the city’s administration continues to tolerate terrorists.
Earlier this week, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hailed the visits of Turkish officials as having "softened the mood" after the killing of Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq and said, "We are ready to take joint steps with our neighbors as long as they do not tolerate the establishment of a 'Terroristan' on our border."
He also affirmed Türkiye's respect for the territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria in response to statements by officials in two countries that Türkiye's cross-border operations harmed sovereignty.
Turkish officials have repeatedly urged Iraq, as well as the KRG, to recognize the PKK as a terrorist group, stressing that the group, which occupies Sinjar, Makhmour, Qandil and Sulaymaniyah, threatens the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq.
In the last few years, Ankara's intensifying operations in the region have demolished terrorist lairs in the Metina, Avashin-Basyan, Zap and Gara districts but Baghdad has yet to recognize the PKK as a terrorist group officially, and Turkish strikes remain a prickling issue between the neighbors.
Similarly, on Friday, Turkish forces eliminated four more PKK terrorists in the northern Iraqi region where Operation Claw-Lock, launched in April 2022, is taking place, the defense ministry said.
Iran tensions
Regarding the presence of the U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq, Barzani on Thursday said the KRG will decide the fate of the coalition forces in consultations with the Iraqi central government.
Rejecting allegations of a relationship between the KRG and Israel, he said the KRG has no relations with Tel Aviv and does not have an Israeli intelligence agency Mossad headquarters.
Barzani emphasized that Iran could not provide Baghdad with any evidence of a Mossad presence in the KRG.
"The KRG poses no threat to Iran," which carried out attacks and resulted in the deaths of civilians, he said, adding that it is impossible to assess Iran's attack within the context of friendship.