Kurdish leader criticizes "warm reception" of Erdogan, calls Ankara an "occupier"

Shafaq News/ Hama Haji Mahmoud, leader of the Kurdistan Social Democratic Party, has criticized Iraqi officials for their "warm reception" of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, arguing that Turkey is an "occupying force" and should not be treated as a legitimate partner.

In a press conference he held in al-Sulaymaniyah earlier today, Mahmoud, also known as Kaka Hama, said that international norms do not permit engaging with occupying states without first addressing their military presence in occupied territories.

Since 2019, Turkey has conducted a series of cross-border operations in northern Iraq against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), dubbed "Claw".

The PKK, which has fought a decades-long rebellion against the Turkish state and is considered a "terrorist" group by Ankara and its Western allies, has a presence in northern Iraq.

"International conventions state that any occupying country should not be engaged with until it withdraws from the territories it occupies," Mahmoud stated, criticizing Turkiye's presence in parts of Iraq. "Turkiye controls vast areas of Iraqi border regions, so engaging with them in this manner is inappropriate until they leave Iraqi soil."

I believe that the warm reception of the Turkish president in Baghdad did not reflect the reality of Turkish aggression," he added.

Mahmoud's comments come after Erdogan's first visit to Iraq since 2011, where he met with top officials, including Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and President Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid.

In a joint news conference with al-Sudani on Monday, Erdogan said the two leaders discussed steps the two countries could take against the armed group the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and welcomed Iraq’s designation of the PKK as a banned group.

Al-Sudani said the two countries would cooperate to bolster border security and act against non-state armed groups that could be working with terrorist organisations. He did not mention the PKK specifically.

An Iraqi government spokesperson said PKK members were welcome in Iraq so long as they did not engage in political activism or carry weapons.

Ankara plans a new swoop on the militants this spring and has sought Iraqi cooperation, in the form of a joint operations room, as well as recognition by Baghdad of the PKK threat.

Erdogan's visit also included a stop in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, where he met with regional leaders including President Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, and Masoud Barzani, the Kurdish leader.

On the timing of the parliamentary election in the Kurdistan region, he said it "depends on the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan", suggesting that "they have the power to decide whether to proceed with the scheduled elections or postpone them."

The upcoming parliamentary elections in the Iraqi Kurdistan region are expected to be postponed again due to a boycott by the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Iraq's Federal Supreme Court ruled on 31 May 2023 against extending the term of the Kurdistan region's parliament as contrary to the country's constitution, declaring the Kurdish legislature terminated and ordering the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) to supervise fresh general elections in the region.

On 23 February, Iraq's Supreme Federal Court ruled against the Kurdistan region parliament's eleven-seat minority quota system as "unconstitutional." The court's decision effectively dissolved the eleven quota seats designated for Turkmen, Christians and Armenian minorities in the region, which had been in the legislature since 1992. The court also made critical amendments to the region's electoral law, dividing the region into four constituents.

These developments prompted the KDP's political bureau to announce on 18 March a boycott of the electoral process. The KDP criticised the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court for constitutional violations, stating that it overstepped its authority by amending the regional election law, eliminating quota seats for minority communities and endorsing an Iraqi judicial body to enforce election results.

Nechirvan Barzani, president of the semi-autonomous region, had picked 10 June to hold parliamentary elections.