KCK: Baghdad needs to withdraw from the agreement with Ankara

KCK calls on the Iraqi government, political leaders, and political parties to understand that an agreement with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan means an agreement with ISIS and is definitely not in the interests of the Iraqi people and state.

The KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Foreign Relations Committee issued a statement about the latest attacks by Turkey in South Kurdistan. 

The statement said: "In the last days, our fellow citizens named Bedi Kemal Muhammad, Muzaffer Hussein Xidir, Muhammad Muzaffer Hussein, and Mubin Muzaffer Hussein were martyred in terrorist attacks carried out by the occupying Turkish army in the areas of Bradost and Raperin. Also, two weeks ago, Gulistan Tara and Hero Bahadin, two of the leading workers of the free press, were martyred in an attack in the region of Sharazor. Again, on August 31, a citizen named Hakim Luqman was brutally murdered in Istanbul by fascist hordes fed by the AKP-MHP just for speaking Kurdish. Seven of our people lost their lives within just two weeks as a result of Turkey’s invasion and terrorist attacks. We strongly condemn these terrorist attacks and offer our condolences to the families of the martyrs and the patriotic people of Kurdistan."

The statement added: "These killings occurred after the signing of the agreement between Turkey and Iraq on August 15th. This agreement has not and will not bring anything positive for the Kurdish people and the peoples of Iraq except terror and massacre. What the Turkish state means by talking about the development, prosperity, and economic progress in Iraq is nothing but terror and massacre. Economic development, security, prosperity, education, and other rhetoric used do nothing but cover up this terror and massacre.

What we are currently witnessing is yet another result of the collaboration of the Iraqi government with the alliance of AKP, MHP, and KDP in the Behdinan area. Radical jihadists recruited from ISIS are being brought to Behdinan under the protection of the occupying Turkish army. In recent days, videos of these mercenaries have been shared in the press. They confirm the facts that the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla observed on the battlefield and shared with the public but which the AKP-KDP special war media tried to cover up."

The statement continued: "Since 2021, the occupying Turkish army, which is afraid of entering into direct conflict with the guerrilla and does not dare to enter the guerrilla’s war tunnels, has used these mercenaries for this purpose. These gangs and mercenaries, which had been cleared from Kurdistan and Iraq as a result of the struggle of the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla, the Peshmerga, and the Iraqi army and the heavy prices paid, are now returning as a result of the agreement signed by the Iraqi government with Turkey. Through it, the Iraqi government has legitimized the AKP-MHP-ISIS-KDP alliance, thus the occupation of Iraq by Turkey and ISIS, the revival of ISIS once again, and its basing in Iraq and Kurdistan.

For more than a decade, Turkey has been terrorizing the peoples of the Middle East, especially the Kurdish people, through ISIS and similar structures, using them for its own expansionist and occupation plans. It has used these gangs from Azerbaijan and Armenia to Libya, Sudan, Somalia, and Algeria, and from there to the streets of Paris and Berlin. In 2014, just as Turkey turned the direction of ISIS from Damascus to Kobane, from Baghdad to Mosul, Shengal (Sinjar), Kirkuk, and Hewler (Erbil), it has now brought the same gangs from Idlib to Amediye, Zakho, and Duhok."

The statement underlined that "bringing ISIS gangs to South Kurdistan under the auspices of the KDP and Turkey and deploying them in strategic locations in Kurdistan poses a threat of genocide and demographic change for both the peoples of Iraq and southern Kurdistan in the long run. Let us not forget that ISIS entered Shengal in agreement with the KDP. Now it has entered Behdinan in agreement with the KDP. There is no guarantee that ISIS will not inflict the genocide they inflicted on the people of Shengal on the people of Dohuk, Zakho, and Amediye. On the contrary, there is such a concrete danger. What ISIS and Turkey have done jointly so far is an indication that they will do so in the future.

Just as the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrillas fought at the forefront against the Turkish-backed ISIS terrorism and defended the peoples of the Middle East, and especially the existence of the Kurdish people, they are now putting up a historic resistance against the ISIS-backed Turkish occupation and annexation attacks, at the forefront, despite all the difficulties. The resistance against ISIS in Shengal, Makhmour, Hewler, and Kirkuk ten years ago has the same historical meaning as the resistance against the Turkish occupation attacks in Zap, Metina, and Avashin. The attacks of Turkey and ISIS are genocidal attacks that continue and complement each other."

The statement concluded: "Based on this, we call on the peoples of Iraq, and particularly the people of southern Kurdistan, the youth, women, and intellectuals, to support and join the resistance of the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrillas. At the same time, we call on the Iraqi government, political leaders, and political parties to understand that an agreement with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan means an agreement with ISIS and is definitely not in the interests of the Iraqi people and state. The plans of a fascist dictator like Erdoğan cannot be thwarted by bowing to him and giving him legitimacy, but by fighting him. It is in Iraq’s interest to turn away from this mistake of signing the agreement as soon as possible. Only in this way can future damage and danger be prevented."