Iraq Caught in Crossfire Between Turkey’s and Iran’s Kurdish Agendas

Experts believe the Iranian demand has to do with the upcoming “Women, Life, Freedom” anniversary, while the Turkish request is related to the intelligence background of the country’s new foreign minister

Both Turkey and Iran have applied pressure on Iraq over the past few days concerning the Kurds. Ankara wants Baghdad to declare the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) a terror organization, while Tehran is urging Baghdad to dismantle and resettle the anti-Iranian Kurdish factions located near the border.

The Kurds are the second largest ethnic group in Iraq and have historically aspired to independence. In 2005, Iraq recognized the Kurdistan region as a semi-autonomous federal entity. The Kurdistan Regional Government controls the area, located in Iraq’s north, and Erbil is the capital city.

On Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani, said in a press conference that the Iraqi government must dismantle the anti-Iran “terror organizations” operating in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

Multiple Iranian Kurdish factions maintain camps and bases in the Kurdistan region. Iran classifies these groups as “separatist terrorists.”

Ignoring borders between Iraq and Syria, the [PKK] terrorist organization seeks to unite the two regions through a terror corridor it set up

On a visit to Iraq last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that “ignoring borders between Iraq and Syria, the [PKK] terrorist organization seeks to unite the two regions through a terror corridor it set up,” adding that the PKK presents a threat to Iraqi sovereignty.

Turkish Kurds founded the PKK in 1974 as a Marxist-Leninist organization. In 1984, the group began to function as a paramilitary force fighting for Kurdish independence. In the 1990s, the PKK moderated its demands and began to fight for political autonomy for Kurds in Turkey’s southeast.

According to Turkey’s state-run news agency, the Turkish National Intelligence Organization killed a senior PKK member by the name of Kadri Encu in northern Iraq on Sunday.

Iraq meets Turkey in this quest to strengthen the narrative of imposing on the Kurdish actors to respect Iraq’s sovereignty and not conduct any military actions without governmental consent

Romy Nasr, a Middle East and North Africa analyst specializing in violent extremism and security sector reforms in Iraq, told The Media Line that the status of the PKK has been highlighted in recent months with combat at the borders between Kurdish fighters and Turkish forces.

“Iraq meets Turkey in this quest to strengthen the narrative of imposing on the Kurdish actors to respect Iraq’s sovereignty and not conduct any military actions without governmental consent,” Nasr said.

While Iraq and some other countries have not designated the PKK as a terrorist group, Turkey, the US, the EU, the UK, and Canada all have, among other countries.

Gökçe Hubar, an independent Turkish researcher on international security issues, said that Turkey is resolved in its position that Iraq should recognize the PKK as a terrorist organization.

“Some senior PKK militants operate from Iraq and that disturbs Turkey, which needs Iraq’s approval to target and neutralize them,” she told The Media Line. She added that former intelligence chief Hakan Fidan taking on the role of minister of foreign affairs has cemented the country’s stance.

Dr. Mohammad Salih, head of the International Relations and Diplomacy Department at Tishk International University in Iraqi Kurdistan, said that Iraq will likely comply with Turkish demands only insofar as doing so meets its own interests.

“In any kind of collaboration with Turkey, they are going to step from an Iraqi national interest, and not necessarily take on board all the Turkish demands and/or expectations,” he told The Media Line.

Salih said that Iran’s demand that Iraq resettle Kurdish factions has to do with fears of upcoming protests in Iran. Later this month is the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman who died in police custody after being arrested for not properly covering her hair. Amini’s death sparked prolonged nationwide demonstrations that took on the slogan “woman, life, freedom.”

“Though there has always been kind of an agreement between those countries that have a part of Kurdistan—including Turkey and Iran—against Kurdish rights, currently, the Iranian fear and demand against its Kurdish groups in Iraq comes from the fact that in September at the anniversary of the popular demonstrations, Iran expects an increase of the demonstration,” Salih said.

Nasr explained that after Iranian Kurds mostly boycotted the 1979 referendum that established the Islamic Republic, many have been seeking safety in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, where they have established political organizations opposing the Iranian regime.

Among these Iranian Kurdish groups in Iraq are the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, or KDPI, the Komala Party, and the Kurdistan Free Life Party, or PJAK. PJAK reportedly has around 3,000 fighters based in the mountains on the Iraqi side of the border with Iran.

Although these parties also have military wings undertaking missions against the Iranian government, Nasr stresses that the significance of Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq has been exaggerated by the Iranian regime. This was done “mostly to justify the unlawful use of force against Iranian Kurdish protesters at home and to send a fake message to neighboring countries about how they are the main cause of instability,” she said.

“Iran is looking at weakening the Kurdish government to increase dominance over the border areas,” she added. “Iran and Iraq’s common interest is to weaken the Kurdistan Regional Government.”

Salih said that Iraq will most likely not take steps that would contradict the Kurdistan region’s semi-autonomous status, despite pressure from Turkey and Iran.

Iraq is motivated to keep the Kurdistan region independent, he said, because the region maintains a balance between Shiite and Sunni Iraqis. Since the 2003 regime change, the dynamic between Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq has been tense, making it a priority for Iraq not to upset the balance by changing the status of the Kurdistan region.

“This is despite all the differences between the federal government of Iraq and the Kurdistan region,” Salih said.