Turkey extends flight ban to Sulaimani city for the 4th time

SULAIMANI,— Turkey has once again extended its flight ban on Sulaimani International Airport in Iraq’s Kurdish region, marking the fourth such extension since the initial suspension in April 2023, airport officials confirmed Monday.

The ban, originally set to last three months, has now been prolonged by an additional six months, affecting all flights between Sulaimani and Turkey.

According to the Turkish government, the extended ban is a response to what it describes as an increase in activities by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) within Sulaimani province. The PKK, a Kurdish separatist group, has long been at odds with Ankara, and Turkey has repeatedly accused the local authorities in Sulaimani of providing support to the group.

Turkey’s foreign ministry first imposed the ban in April 2023, citing an alleged rise in PKK activity following the crash of two helicopters that were carrying Syrian Kurdish fighters. Since then, Turkish officials have continued to claim that Sulaimani is a stronghold for PKK operations, further straining relations between Turkey and the region’s ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

The PUK, led by the Talabani family, has faced repeated accusations from Ankara, which dates back to 2017. That year, the PKK allegedly captured Turkish intelligence agents in the heart of Sulaimani, which led Turkey to expel the PUK’s representative in Ankara. Despite these tensions, Turkey lifted its previous flight ban on Sulaimani airport in January 2019, though relations have remained rocky.

Turkey has kept a strong military presence in Iraqi Kurdistan, including bases in areas controlled by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of the Barzani family. The Turkish military regularly carries out airstrikes and drone attacks on PKK targets in Sulaimani and other parts of the Kurdistan Region.

In 2023 Bafel Talabani, a senior PUK member and deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan region, acknowledged that resolving tensions with Turkey would be “difficult,” given the ongoing disputes. Talabani has attempted to address the situation by holding multiple meetings with Turkish diplomats in recent years.

While the Talabanis have expressed support for Kurdish groups in Syria and Turkey, their rivals, the Barzanis, who govern the Erbil and Duhok provinces, maintain strong relations with the Turkish government and oppose the PKK.