ANKARA: The escalating tension between Baghdad and Irbil following Monday’s wide-ranging military operation launched by the Iraqi army to regain control of oil fields and military bases in Kirkuk could have serious repercussions for Turkey’s Iraq policy.
Reports and images showing members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) freely roaming the streets of the northern Iraqi city amid insistent calls from ethnic Turkmen groups to oust the militant group accelerated Ankara’s reaction.
Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on Monday emphasizing that Ankara will stand with the central government in Baghdad “to end the presence of PKK in Iraqi territories.”
“We welcome the Iraqi government’s statement that no tolerance will be shown to PKK members in Kirkuk and that the mobilization of these groups will be considered an act of war,” the ministry said. The statement urged the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) “not to make another mistake” by allowing a PKK presence in the region because it “will be held responsible if it lets the PKK find shelter.”
Turkey’s interest in Kirkuk derives mainly from its ethnic, linguistic, religious, cultural and historical ties with the Turkmens, who are the third-largest ethnic group in the city, as well as from its perception of the threat from the expanding PKK presence there.
Bilgay Duman, an expert on Iraqi affairs at Ankara-based think tank ORSAM, said any step that Baghdad takes to eradicate the PKK will be warmly supported by Ankara.
“Turkey would not directly intervene in the region. But if the PKK becomes much more active in its positions in Sinjar, west of Mosul, Turkey may conduct a joint operation with the Iraqi central government,” Duman told Arab News.
“However,” he added, “Turkey would not prefer a deepening of the conflict in the region between the KRG and Baghdad because any security and power vacuum is likely to be filled by the PKK as well as by Daesh, which is still active in the region.
“For this reason, Ankara may play the role of mediator between the Iraqi government and the KRG in order to appease the tension. It may also raise the problems of Iraqi Turkmens in this process, especially following the change in demographics in the region,” Duman continued. “However, that would surely depend on (the KRG’s) willingness to meet Turkey’s main demand, which is the cancellation and withdrawal of all steps taken following the independence referendum held on Sept. 25.”
Turkey’s National Security Council also convened on Monday, under the chairmanship of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and recommended the government close airspace to flights from northern Iraq.
Ali Semin, a Middle East expert from Istanbul-based think tank Bilgesam, said Turkey should not stay silent and miss the opportunity to activate its Iraqi policy in line with the unfolding regional dynamics, although it has so far followed a “wait-and-see” policy by not closing its borders to Kurdistan even after the independence referendum.
“The regional balances are in favor of Ankara. In the first stage, Turkey may support Turkmens on political and diplomatic fronts. It can also provide military and logistical support to the Iraqi central government as part of joint counterterrorism efforts,” Semin told Arab News.
“The PKK’s presence in the region legitimizes Ankara’s use of its right to cross-border intervention in line with its decades-long security cooperation with Baghdad, like it did before several times in the Qandil mountains where PKK bases are located,” he added.
Semin also underlined that, in light of the shifting regional balance of power, Turkey may give its support to Iraq’s Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units), a group of mainly Shiite militias that also incorporates Turkmen forces.
“Ankara has three priorities: Preventing oil-rich Kirkuk’s inclusion in the KRG, protecting Turkmen groups in the region, and stopping the independence process of Kurdistan,” Semin said. “Therefore, it can design new alliances that favor these three elements in consideration of its evolving relationship with political groups in Baghdad. Following the independence referendum, (Kurdish President Masoud) Barzani lost his major ally, Ankara, which now takes every possible opportunity to improve its ties with the Iraqi central government. Therefore, the escalation of tension in Kirkuk is disadvantageous for the Kurds who have ignited an ethnic conflict between Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens.”
Speaking to reporters at the Parliament on Monday, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Ozturk Yilmaz, called for Kirkuk to be granted special status whereby Turkmen, Arabs and Kurds would be entitled to equal representation.
Ankara backs Baghdad in Kirkuk operation against PKK
Ankara backs Baghdad in Kirkuk operation against PKK
British Airways cancels Israel flights until August
- UK carrier suspended route to Tel Aviv after Houthi attack on Ben Gurion Airport in May
- Air France flights remain suspended but Delta, Aegean flights recommenced this week
LONDON: There will be no British Airways flights from the UK to Israel until at least August, the airline has said.
BA cited security concerns for the decision, having suspended flights to Tel Aviv in May following a Houthi missile attack that injured six people at Ben Gurion International Airport. The airline subsequently evacuated staff staying in the city to the Austrian capital Vienna.
A BA spokesman said in a statement: “We continually monitor operating conditions and have made the decision to suspend our flights to and from Tel Aviv, up to and including 31 July. We’ve apologised to our customers for the inconvenience.”
A message on the airline’s website for the route reads: “Sorry, we have no flights available. Please edit your search to find other routes.” The next scheduled flight from London to Tel Aviv is on Aug. 1.
Air France has halted flights in and out of Israel until at least May 26. Greek airline Aegean resumed flights to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, while US carrier Delta commenced daily flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Ben Gurion on Monday. Both had suspended their routes following the Houthi attack.
African Union urges permanent ceasefire in Libya after clashes
- Libya is split between the UN-recognized government in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah
- The clashes were sparked by the killing of an armed faction leader by a group aligned with Dbeibah’s government
ADIS ABABA: The African Union called for a permanent ceasefire in Libya on Saturday after deadly clashes in the capital earlier this month and demonstrations demanding the prime minister’s resignation.
The latest fighting in the conflict-torn North African country pitted an armed group aligned with the Tripoli-based government against factions it has sought to dismantle, resulting in at least eight dead, according to the United Nations.
Despite a lack of a formal ceasefire, the clashes mostly ended last week, with the Libya Defense Ministry saying this week that efforts toward a truce were “ongoing.”
On Saturday, the AU’s Peace and Security Council condemned the recent violence, calling for an “unconditional and permanent ceasefire.”
In a statement on X, the council urged “inclusive, Libyan-led reconciliation,” adding that it “appeals for no external interference.”
Libya is split between the UN-recognized government in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east.
The country has remained deeply divided since the 2011 NATO-backed revolt that toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi.
The clashes were sparked by the killing of an armed faction leader by a group aligned with Dbeibah’s government — the 444 Brigade, which later fought a third group, the Radaa force that controls parts of eastern Tripoli and the city’s airport.
It came after Dbeibah announced a string of executive orders seeking to dismantle Radaa and dissolve other Tripoli-based armed groups but excluding the 444 Brigade.
South Lebanon votes in municipal elections that will test support for Hezbollah
- Municipal elections are taking place in Lebanon as residents in the south cast their votes over the weekend
- Hezbollah and Amal representatives are among those running for elections
BEIRUT: Residents of southern Lebanon voted Saturday in the country’s municipal elections that will test support for Hezbollah in the predominantly Shiite areas, months after the end of the destructive Israel-Hezbollah war.
Hezbollah is running in an alliance with the Amal group of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and both are expected to win mayoral races and the majority of seats in municipal councils. Both groups already won many municipalities uncontested.
South Lebanon is the fourth and last district to vote in the elections since May 4. Among those who voted Saturday were Hezbollah members wounded in the Sept. 17, 2024, explosions of thousands of pagers that blew up near-simultaneously in an operation carried out by Israel. More than a dozen were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded.
“The will of life is stronger than death and the will of construction is stronger than destruction,” President Joseph Aoun said during a tour of south Lebanon Saturday. He told reporters in his hometown of Aaichiyeh that he voted for the first time in 40 years.
Saturday’s vote came two days after Israel’s air force carried out intense airstrikes in different parts of south Lebanon.
Residents of villages and towns on the border with Israel, including the village of Kfar Kila that was almost completely destroyed during the war, cast their ballots at polling stations set up in the nearby city of Nabatiyeh. Residents of other border villages cast their ballots in the port city of Tyre.
“Southerners are proving again that they are with the choice of resistance,” Hezbollah legislator Ali Fayad, who represents border villages, said in Nabatiyeh.
Lebanon’s cash-strapped government has been scrambling to secure international funds for the war reconstruction, which the World Bank estimates at over $11 billion.
Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, one day after a deadly Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza. Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes in Lebanon that escalated into a full-blown war that left more than 4,000 dead in Lebanon and more than 80 soldiers and 47 civilians in Israel. A US-brokered ceasefire went into effect in late November.
Israeli settlers force Palestinian families to leave village
- Mughayyir Al-Deir in occupied West Bank was home to shepherds, farming families
- Settlers built illegal outpost under protection of Israeli police, military
LONDON: Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have forced about 150 Palestinians from their village through a violent five-day campaign carried out under the protection of Israeli authorities.
Last weekend, the settler group had constructed an illegal outpost close to a Palestinian home in Mughayyir Al-Deir, east of Ramallah, The Guardian reported.
The village is home to shepherds and farmers, and by Friday this week dozens of villagers had moved their flocks away and had gathered their belongings to leave the area.
“Settlers stalked between Palestinian men who worked fast and largely in silence, grappling with the grim reality of leaving the place where most were born and grew up,” The Guardian reported. “A child cried as he was driven away on a truck loaded with the family’s red sofas.”
Israeli settlers belonging to the extremist group Hilltop Youth celebrated as Palestinian families left the village.
The group’s unofficial spokesperson, Elisha Yered, said: “This is what redemption looks like! This is a relatively large outpost that contained about 150 people from the enemy population, but it was broken.”
Several of the settlers involved in the illegal campaign, including Yered, are subject to UK and EU sanctions.
Yered was “part of a group of armed settlers” that carried out an attack in 2023 that killed Qusai Jammal Mi’tan, a 19-year-old Palestinian, sanctions files show.
Neria Ben Pazi and Zohar Sabah, two Israeli settlers under British sanctions, visited the illegal outpost at Mughayyir Al-Deir this week.
The hills surrounding the village are dotted with the ruins of other abandoned Palestinian homes, as settlers have waged a campaign to clear the area of locals.
In Mughayyir Al-Deir, Israeli police and military personnel stood guard and patrolled as the settlers began to build the outpost.
Zvi Sukkot, a far-right MP who said on TV last week that Israel “can kill 100 Gazans in one night during a war and nobody in the world cares,” visited the village to support the settlers.
A Palestinian family from Mughayyir Al-Deir filed a petition in Israel’s Supreme Court on Thursday.
They demanded an injunction and urgent hearing on the settler campaign, and asked why Israeli authorities had failed to intervene over the illegal outpost and evictions.
Many of the Palestinian families forced to leave the village had relatives who were forced to leave Beersheba during the Nakba in 1948, when some 750,000 Palestinians were forced to leave their homeland.
An Israeli military spokesperson said troops worked “to ensure the security of the state of Israel and Judea and Samaria (Israel’s name for the occupied West Bank).” The military will respond to the Palestinian family’s petition in court, the spokesperson said.
A hearing is scheduled for next week, but all Palestinian families will have left Mughayyir Al-Deir by then.
Egypt flies home 71 nationals from Libya after unrest
- 71 Egyptians were flown back to Egypt following a rise in violence in Libya as a result of anti government protests
- Protests calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah continue to grow amid deadly clashes with security forces
CAIRO: Egypt has flown 71 nationals home from the Libyan capital Tripoli after deadly clashes between rival militias rocked the city earlier this month, the foreign ministry said.
Friday’s special flight by flag carrier EgyptAir “enabled the repatriation of 71 Egyptian citizens who had expressed a desire to come home,” the ministry said.
From May 12 to 15, the Libyan capital was rocked by fighting between an armed group aligned with the Tripoli-based government and factions it has sought to dismantle.
The clashes, which saw artillery exchanges in the city center, killed at least eight people, according to the United Nations.
Although relative calm has since returned to the city, the situation remains highly volatile as calls grow for the resignation of Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah.
Turkiye evacuated 82 of its nationals from Tripoli on a similar repatriation flight last week.
Libya is split between the UN-recognized government in Tripoli led by Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east.
The North African country has remained deeply divided since the 2011 NATO-backed revolt that toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi.
