The crisis that erupted after the referendum in Southern Kurdistan continues. Those who want to keep their seats, who spread corruption within the Southern Kurdistan administration, left the people in hunger and turned Southern Kurdistan into their family business and party company think the way out of the crisis is to hold on to their seats. To that end, they started looking for new initiatives. By the beginning of these searches and initiatives, Nechirvan Barzani sent messages to Turkey at every chance he got. Some act like Southern Kurdistan hasn’t had a falling out with any other neighbors or other countries except Turkey, but the referendum has created problems in the relationships with Iraq, Iran and many other international powers. For some reason, the effort Nechirvan Barzani has spent to mend fences with Turkey exceeds the sum of all efforts for all these other countries. This inadvertently makes the people of Southern Kurdistan, the people of other parts of Kurdistan and many international powers think. This inadvertently leads to doubts that there is more to this relationship than meets the eye.

Every time Nechirvan Barzani sends a message to Turkey, the Turkish state surpassed bombing Qandil, Behdinan, Xakurt and Xinêrê areas with fighter jets and attacked the Asos mountains, 200 km from the border, located between Southern Kurdistan and Eastern Kurdistan, close to Sulaymaniyah. There were days when they carried out attacks with dozens of jet fighters twice. It came to light later in November that as these attacks were happening, Nechirvan Barzani had exceeded the messages he gave Turkey that he wants to meet in some manner. It also came to light that he sent Selahaddin Bahaddin, Secretary General for the Islamic Yekgirtu Party who stood with the KDP in holding the referendum, to Turkey on November 24 to meet with Turkish officials and act as an intermediary. Selehaddin Bahaddin stayed in Turkey until November 28, and on November 27 while he was still there, Turkey attacked the Asos mountains with 26 jet fighters and bombed the area for 2 hours. Selahaddin Bahaddin announced himself that he met with MİT Undersecretary Hakan Fidan in Turkey and that the meeting was very positive, melting the ice between Southern Kurdistan and Turkey. As Bahaddin was meeting with the MİT, which “broke the ice”, Nechirvan Barzani went to France through Turkey. Two days after Nechirvan Barzani returned from France, there was an attack on the Makhmur Refugee Camp, which seems to have been carried out by Turkey judging by the evidence that has surfaced to date. What promises were made to Turkey in the meetings Selahaddin Bahaddin held that were “very positive” and “melted the ice”? Anybody who knows anything about politics can guess that Turkey wouldn’t agree to a meeting with Southern Kurdistan at their weakest without something in return, Nechirvan Barzani would not be able to hold any meetings even at lower levels or go to France over Turkey, without great concessions. And everybody knows that Bahaddin has no bargaining chips left to offer Turkey to mend fences between the two. It is also known that they have no bargaining chips left other than the Kurdish Freedom Movement and the Makhmur Refugee Camp, which is home to the people of Botan who fled the oppression and torture by the Turkish state and whose villages were burned down. The attack on the Makhmur Camp shows that a new agreement was reached with Turkey in the meeting against the Kurdish Freedom Movement and the Makhmur Camp.

As of now, no explanation has been given for Turkey’s attacks in various areas of Southern Kurdistan and the back to back aerial attacks on the Asos mountains in the last month. No explanation means these attacks are condoned. But it wasn’t just the KDP and Southern Kurdistan that condoned these attacks. The Iraqi state, along with the KDP and the Southern Kurdistan administration, has condoned these attacks by staying silent. The Makhmur Refugee Camp is in the area under the Central Iraqi Government controlled area according to Article 140. This camp is also under the protection of the UN. The recent attack is also an attack against Iraq and the UN. The Iraqi state and the UN will show that they stand either with or against this attack by the approach they take up. But regardless of what they do, Turkey is at a game making position to inflict great losses on the people of Southern Kurdistan by the excuse of the referendum, and has now spread their deep political and economical crisis over Southern Kurdistan, and over Iraq by attacking a camp under supervision of the Iraqi Central Government.