SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq 

The support that the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has been giving to the PKK terrorist organization causes security issues in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah province and many other problems in the region, according to local people.

People of Sulaymaniyah think that PUK’s support to the PKK terrorists poses a threat to neighboring countries and the region as well.

Jamal Abdullah, a local researcher and a writer, told Anadolu that Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) is solid clear in its policies on the issue – “it won’t allow any armed group, which is a part of Iraq, to pose a threat to the neighbors.”

Still, the PUK does not obey the rules of the KRG, he criticized, adding that the actions of the group are not a part of KRG’s policies.

“PUK makes decisions in Sulaymaniyah, not the government,” he said. “This has created a security, political and administrative chaos in Sulaymaniyah.”

“The PUK leader is ruling on his own without consulting the judiciary, the legislature and the executive,” he criticized.

“We cannot sacrifice our own interests to the PKK, which threatens our people within our borders,” he stressed.

“Investors cannot invest in Sulaymaniyah due to security issues because there is no political stability,” he underlined, mentioning: “These reckless policies harm both the society and the government.”

‘I can’t keep asking for good relations with Türkiye while defending PKK’

The threat that the terrorist PKK poses to Türkiye is against the Iraqi constitution and international principles and law, Abdullah warned.

He further emphasized that Türkiye has every right to take action against what has been done against it, noting: “I can’t keep asking for good relations with Türkiye while defending the PKK. Because the PKK is a threat to Türkiye.”

He called on the PUK to correct itself about the support it gives to the terror group.

About Ankara’s decision to close its airspace to the flights from Sulaymaniyah Airport, the writer pointed to the flights from Erbil to Türkiye as “they do not give support to the PKK.”

Security concerns

Sever Jamil, a shopkeeper in the province, accused the PUK administrators of "indifference" and said that the people are going through this process with anxiety.

Stating that he did not want to speak on camera due to security concerns, Jamil said: "I don't want to speak on camera because I would have problems. I have never seen the shopkeepers of Sulaymaniyah bazaar so hesitant and victimized."

He emphasized that the province is currently going through “a very bad period” due to the lack of salaries and unemployment, noting that the support for terrorism in the region has made the current situation worse.

"Unfortunately, those who govern Sulaymaniyah are very indifferent to what is happening and put their own interests above the people,” he criticized.

“Sulaymaniyah cannot be the victim of one person, one party or a foreign faction (PKK),” he warned.

He further underscored: “For years, we have struggled to prove that we are for peace, and now we have become a threat to our neighbors, which has led to an embargo against us.”

Atta Anwar, president of the Chamber of Tourism Companies in Sulaymaniyah, said that Ankara's decision to close its airspace to flights to the region had a very negative impact on tourism and the economy.

Emphasizing that tourism companies have very good relations with the country, Anwar indicated: "Türkiye is one of the countries that our people visit the most.”

“There were five flights a week in winter and 15 flights a week in summer," he asserted.

He indicated that 60% of the tourism companies in the province have a business area in Türkiye.

Abdullah said that citizens who want to go to Türkiye from the region use Kirkuk and Erbil airports.

PKK existence in Sulaymaniyah

With the support of the PUK, the terrorist organization PKK maintains its terrorist structure in and around Sulaymaniyah, including its so-called political structure and extensions.

In addition to the space opened to the PKK in the city center and countryside, the PUK also provides logistical support and military training to terrorists between Syria and Qandil.

The PKK terrorists, who engage in drug trafficking and smuggling at various points along the Iran-Iraq border, continue to pose a threat to the people of the region with terrorist acts such as roadblocks, extortion and kidnapping by setting up so-called checkpoints in the countryside.

According to a statement made by KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in February 2021, the reconstruction of 800 villages could not be completed due to the PKK's occupation of mountains and residential areas in the region, while the terrorist organization also prevents farmers from accessing their lands.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, UK, and EU — has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG-YPJ is PKK’s Syrian offshoot.