What Lies Behind Iraq’s Move to Curb PKK Expansion?

Despite Iraq’s repeated commitments to curb the expansion of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is classified as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, armed members of this group continue to maintain control over the city of Sinjar in Nineveh province, in coordination with the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

In recent years, the PKK has become a source of tension between Iraq and Turkiye, as its presence extends beyond the borders and includes control over the district of Sinjar through its affiliated militia, the Sinjar Protection Units (YBS), after it was liberated from the Islamic State in 2015.

 

Turkish Pressure

On May 31, 2023, Intelligence Online published a report discussing the leverage Turkiye possesses to pressure Iraq into cooperation in curbing the expansion of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

The magazine stated that Turkiye has threatened to restrict the flow of the Tigris River into Iraq.

The Turkish authorities have halted the export of Iraqi oil through the Ceyhan port since the International Chamber of Commerce ruling in Paris in March 2023 regarding the dispute between Erbil and Baghdad over oil exports from Kurdistan, granting Turkiye additional influence over Baghdad.

On March 25, 2023, Turkiye suspended exports of northern Iraqi oil, totaling 450,000 barrels per day, following the International Chamber of Commerce’s ruling in Paris, which ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad $1.5 billion in compensation for unauthorized exports by the regional government between 2014 and 2018.

Turkiye actions prompted Turkish intelligence to threaten an escalation of airstrikes against targets in Iraq. However, Baghdad swiftly sought to avoid this escalation as it would constitute a clear violation of its territory, according to the French magazine.

Similarly, the magazine added that while Turkish intelligence negotiated arrangements regarding the controversial Makhmour camp directly with the Iraqi government in Baghdad, the Kurdistan Regional Government also played a role in the matter.

The magazine indicated that the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Masoud Barzani and in power in Erbil, maintains close ties with Ankara and has an office within the camp near the regional borders of Iraqi Kurdistan, facilitating the tracking of suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

The magazine confirmed that authorities in Erbil completely closed the Faysh Khabur border crossing between Syria and Iraq on May 20, 2023. This crossing is the main route for Kurds to travel between the two countries.

Makhmour camp, built in the mid-1990s and inhabited by hundreds of Turkish Kurdish families affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, is one of the key sites that Turkiye considers a recruitment center and a hub for activities threatening its national security. Turkiye calls on Iraq to prevent any military activities within the camp.

 

Baghdad’s Submission

After condemning the Turkish incursions into Iraq, Baghdad finally yielded to the demands of Turkish intelligence to carry out operations against alleged members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

This came after representatives of the Turkish intelligence visited the Iraqi capital several times in recent months, according to Intelligence Online.

After being forced to comply with the demands of Turkish intelligence, the Iraqi government in Baghdad began an operation to control suspected fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, with implicit participation from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, to which Barzani belongs.

The French newspaper indicated that the former head of the Turkish intelligence agency (current Minister of Foreign Affairs), Hakan Fidan, is now monitoring the southern borders of his country with Iraq. The authorities in Baghdad, at his request, surrounded a refugee camp known as the stronghold of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

The camp, formally under the authority of the United Nations and informally under the control of an internal militia, finds itself encircled by units of the Iraqi army and the federal police. Their presence has effectively barred any movement in and out of the camp, as well as resulted in the confiscation of weapons within its confines, as reported by the French magazine.

It also noted that Ankara might exert pressure on the Iraqi army to assume control over Sinjar, a region subject to frequent airstrikes by the Turkish army. This development places Baghdad in a challenging predicament concerning its relationship with the Popular Mobilization Forces, which currently hold authority over the area.

On May 23, 2023, the Iraqi army began digging a trench around the Makhmour camp, which houses Kurdish refugees from Turkiye, and surveillance towers are planned to be installed around it, according to the district mayor of Makhmour, Rizgar Mohammed.

The Kurdish Iraqi website, Rudaw, quoted Mohammed as saying that the district mayor’s office has no connection to the decision; rather, it was taken by the general command of the armed forces to put the camp under Iraqi control and raise the Iraqi flag.

On May 20, a delegation from the Iraqi ministries of Interior and Defense visited the Makhmour camp and presented four proposals to the officials there, which are fencing the camp and guarding it with the Iraqi army and police forces and placing cement barriers on the camp road and in front of it.

Within the suggestions put forth were the options of permitting local law enforcement to enter the camp and establishing a single designated pathway for the residents’ ingress and egress. He verified that the delegation from Baghdad granted a three-hour window for the camp authorities to provide their response to these proposed measures.

The camp, known to its supporters as “Shahid Rostam Judi,” is located in the Makhmour district between the provinces of Erbil, 70 kilometers west, and Nineveh, about 100 kilometers southeast of Mosul.

The district is classified as an area of dispute between the governments of the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad, but it officially falls under the administration of Nineveh Province. Its residents are a mix of Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen.

The camp was established in 1998 under the supervision of the United Nations to accommodate refugees from the Turkish Kurds, estimated to be more than 12,000 people currently.

It later turned into a residential area, and Turkiye claims that the camp has become a stronghold for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

In June 2021, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to “cleanse” the Makhmour camp, as it had become a “safe haven for militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party,” and it needed to be dealt with since it continued to “export terrorists.”

Days after this comment, Ankara announced that Turkish intelligence had successfully killed the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Selman Bozkir, who was in charge of the Makhmour camp in northern Iraq.”

 

Put in the Corner

Regarding the extent of Iraq’s submission and real cooperation with Turkiye under recent pressures, Iraqi political researcher Luay al-Azzawi believes that “Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s government is trying to succeed in various ways to win public support. If it does not cooperate with Ankara, it will be trapped in a suffocating water crisis.”

He explained to Al-Estiklal that “al-Sudani’s continued presidency of the government may be dependent on responding to Turkiye’s demands because the Iraqi street is putting strong pressure on him regarding the water crisis and other crises. Consequently, he is put in the corner, in a difficult situation where it becomes challenging for him to think of not cooperating with the Turks.”

The researcher expects that “Shiite factions linked to Iran, which are part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, will comply with al-Sudani’s orders to abandon the Kurdistan Workers’ Party since the government is affiliated with the coordination framework. Therefore, its failure will necessarily affect all of them. It is also in Tehran’s interest to calm tensions with Turkiye at present.”

During his first visit to Ankara since assuming office in October 2022, al-Sudani discussed various issues concerning the two countries with President Erdogan, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party issue.

During a joint press conference on March 21, 2023, both sides discussed the issue of Kurdistan Workers’ Party fighters who have bases in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq adjacent to Turkish territories.

The Turkish President said: “We expect our Iraqi brothers to classify the Kurdistan Workers’ Party as a terrorist organization and to cleanse their lands from these bloody terrorists.”

In turn, the Iraqi Prime Minister emphasized the rejection of using their lands to attack neighboring countries or any encroachment on Iraqi sovereignty, according to the Iraqi News Agency on March 21.

Prior to the start of the talks between Erdogan and al-Sudani, former Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar met with his Iraqi counterpart, Thabit Mohammad al-Abbasi. During the meeting, the former stressed that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party poses a common threat to both Turkiye and Iraq.

Hulusi Akar emphasized that Turkiye respects the territorial integrity of its neighboring countries, especially Iraq.

He affirmed the determination of Turkish forces to combat terrorism, protect the country’s borders, and the importance of cooperation and coordination in fighting terrorist organizations. He stressed the necessity of enhancing cooperation between the Turkish and Iraqi armies.

During the meeting, the two ministers discussed several regional and international issues and ways to enhance cooperation in the defense industries between the two countries, according to the Turkish Ministry of Defense on March 21.

Turkiye has been carrying out ongoing military operations against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in northern Iraq.

The latest operation, Claw-Lock, has been ongoing since April 17, 2022, following the conflict between Turkiye and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which led to the signing of a security agreement with Iraq in 1994.

Under the agreement, Turkish forces are allowed to conduct airstrikes against PKK strongholds, classified as a terrorist organization, and engage in ground incursions up to 25 kilometers deep along the border strip. The agreement was extended in 2007.

Approximately 20 Turkish military bases and headquarters are situated in the provinces of Erbil and Duhok in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

The largest of these bases is located in Bamarni, north of Duhok, which serves as a logistical military base with an airstrip.