Turkey closes airspace to Iraq’s Sulaimaniyah, cites PKK presence
Turkey based its decision on the alleged increase in PKK-related activities in the northern Iraqi city.
Turkey has closed its airspace to aircraft taking off from and landing in Iraq’s northern city of Sulaimaniyah, citing what it said was the heightened presence of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters there, according to a foreign ministry spokesman .
The closure, announced on Wednesday, began on the same day and will continue until July 3 with the possibility of an extension, the spokesman said, adding that there had been PKK “infiltration” of Sulaymaniyah airport.
The airport’s director, Handren al Mufti, said the airport received an email on Monday from Turkish Airlines saying that day’s and next day’s flights had been canceled before a subsequent email extended the suspension to 11. April.
“I can assure everyone that we do not have any security issues at all and there have not been any incidents of security breaches at the airport, but apparently there are other reasons behind their decision,” al Mufti said.
The decision comes weeks after two helicopters crashed in northern Iraq, killing Syrian Democratic Forces fighters on board.
The SDF is largely made up of the YPG, which Turkey says is the Syrian wing of the PKK. The incident sparked claims that the PKK was in possession of helicopters, drawing the ire of Turkish authorities.
This is not the first time Turkey has closed its airspace to and from the northern Iraqi city, after imposing a similar ban from 2017 to 2019.
The PKK and the Turkish state have been embroiled in conflict since the 1980s. Turkey, the United States and the European Union have blacklisted the movement as a “terrorist” group.
In recent years, Turkey has conducted numerous operations against the PKK in northern Iraq, where the group has bases. The most recent operation began in April last year and continues despite opposition from the Iraqi central government in Baghdad.
Civilians have been caught in fighting, most notably in July when eight tourists were killed in a Turkish airstrike.
Ankara has close ties to the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the largest party in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. The party is dominant in the regional capital Erbil. Its rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, has closer ties to the PKK and is dominant in Sulaimaniyah.