Turkiye: Iraq now treats PKK as ‘Terrorist Organization’

Shafaq News / Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Sunday that Iraq has begun officially treating the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as a terrorist organization, signaling a significant shift in Baghdad’s stance on the group.

Speaking after the fifth meeting of the Turkiye-Iraq High-Level Security Mechanism—held on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in southern Türkiye—Fidan told reporters, “Iraq now treats the PKK as a terrorist organization. Baghdad has already declared it a banned group, but whether it’s labeled banned or terrorist is secondary. What matters is that it is recognized as an illegitimate entity.”

Fidan emphasized that both countries are closely tracking developments in the region and jointly reviewing current and potential security threats, particularly in the area of counter-terrorism. He noted that Ankara raised concerns about the Sinjar region during the talks, while the Iraqi side voiced its own reservations.

Sinjar became a PKK stronghold following the expulsion of ISIS in 2014 and has since been a flashpoint in Türkiye-Iraq security discussions.

“In our talks, we reviewed ongoing security issues, with a focus on the fight against terrorism, as well as possible future threats,” the Turkish minister said.

The shift in Iraq’s approach dates back to July 2024, when the Iraqi government ordered all state institutions to refer to the PKK as a “banned organization” in official communications. The directive, issued by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, was widely seen as a step toward deeper cooperation with Turkiye amid ongoing Turkish military operations targeting PKK positions in northern Iraq.

Turkiye considers the PKK a terrorist organization and has carried out cross-border strikes for decades against the group’s bases in the mountainous border regions of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.