PKK has become ‘a headache,’ says KDP

ANKARA

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of northern Iraq has lashed out at the outlawed PKK over the latter’s criticisms on Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) President Nechirvan Barzani’s meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

After Erdoğan and Barzani held talks in the Turkish capital of Ankara last week, the PKK’s media outlet in Europe published a piece, saying the “KDP is at Ankara’s command.”

In response, the KDP harshly criticized the piece’s headline, as well as the PKK, saying it is following “wrong policies” and that the PKK has become a headache.

“With this wrong policy, the Kurdish people still do not understand what [the PKK] wants and why it is causing Kurdish youth to die,” according to the statement.

The KDP also underlined that the PKK’s blames and threats are not new and called on the latter to “take a look” at themselves.

“You are attempting to put obstacles while new horizons are broadening in every piece of Kurdistan,” the statement said.

“You are trying to find an excuse for your own political, military and diplomatic defeats. Conscience has left the PKK leadership,” the statement said, accusing the terror organization of being “immoral.”

“You say ‘we are not giving up on weapons.’ Tell us, against whom and why you are in a war in a liberated region,” the KDP added.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years and has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women and children.

PKK wants to take control of Arbil

In response to a question about the KDP’s reaction against the PKK’s accusations on Barzani’s visit to Ankara, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said, “It’s well known that the main target of the PKK’s cruelty is the Kurds themselves. And this has been voiced by Massud and Barzani. The most damage to the stability of Northern Iraq is done by the PKK,” Çavuşoğlu said.

Stating that the terrorist organization is trying to expand its influence in Northern Iraq after it has been fully expelled from the Turkish territories, the minister said, “The PUK [Patriotic Union of Kurdistan] and its Suleymaniye are under the control of the PKK. They have the control of 1,000 villages there and the PKK’s objective is to control Arbil as well.”