The Turkish state has extended its flight ban on the international airport in the Sulaymaniyah province of southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) once again. The ban, which was set to expire on Sunday, will remain in force until October 6 for the time being.

Flights to and from Sulaymaniyah, one of the largest cities in southern Kurdistan, were first suspended in April 2023. At the time, the Turkish Foreign Ministry justified the flight ban with alleged “threats” from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). It claimed that the PKK had “infiltrated” the airport, thereby threatening flight safety. Since then, several bans have been issued on the same grounds.

The airspace closure affects not only direct flights but also flights over Sulaymaniyah Airport. Authorities in the KRI suspect that the measure was taken in response to the joint fight by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Peshmerga of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which governs Sulaymaniyah, against the terrorist militia “Islamic State” (IS)IS. A few weeks before the airspace closure, in March 2023, nine fighters from the anti-terrorist unit YAT were killed in two helicopter crashes in the KRI. The members of the SDF elite unit wanted to exchange information with the PUK on security issues and military expertise.

The crashes were caused by poor weather conditions at the time. After the fatal accident, Turkey repeatedly threatened the PUK with countermeasures, one of which was a no-fly zone. Last year, the party led by Bafel Talabani was then declared a “security problem” for Turkey by the government in Ankara. Unlike the Barzanî clan-dominated Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the PUK does not collaborate with the Turkish state to attack the Kurdish freedom movement and other emancipatory groups and organizational initiatives perceived as threats.