Turkey and Iraq pledge cooperation against Kurdish militias
Turkey and Iraq have pledged further cooperation on security issues, including combatting Kurdish militias, suggesting an end to the Kurdish resistance to Turkey.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani travelled to Turkey to sign 11 official agreements regarding trade and defense, advancing cooperation between the two countries with a history of turbulent relations.
Relations between Turkey and Iraq have often been strained by Turkish military incursions into northern Iraq to perform operations against the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a registered terrorist organization in Turkey and its allies of the UK and US.
Baghdad has frequently condemned the NATO actor’s incursions as an infringement on Turkish sovereignty whilst Ankara has condemned Iraq for failing to combat terrorist operations on its own territory.
However, the last 12 months has seen a thaw in relations after the Iraqi National Security Council issued a ban on the PKK, although it stopped short of designating it as a terrorist organization.
“We once again emphasized that terrorism has no place in the future of our region,” Erdogan said.
Another of the agreement regarded water supplies to Iraq. In recent years, Turkish-built dams have reduced Iraq’s water supply, according to Baghdad, an issue exacerbated by climate change.
The PKK has maintained bases in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq which it has used to launch attacks against Turkey in an effort to establish an autonomous Kurdish states. The conflict has claimed thousands of lives since the 1980s.
The visit, however, comes amidst a ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK after 40 years of conflict. Reported by Maghrebi in March 2025, outlawed Kurdish militants declared a unilateral ceasefire after their jailed leader urged the groups to disband.
“To pave the way for implementing leader Apo’s appeal for a democratic society, we are declaring a ceasefire effective today,” the PKK executive committee stated via the pro-PKK ANF news agency: “None of our forces will take armed action unless attacked,” it added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Ocalan’s appeal a “historic opportunity,” pledging to monitor the situation closely: “When the pressure of terrorism and arms is eliminated, the space for politics in democracy will naturally expand,” he said.
However, with the diminishing power of the PKK militarily, coinciding with a political and democratic crackdown inside of Turkey at the hands of President Erdogan suggests that Kurdish rights could be under threat.
Maghrebi has also recently reported on the imprisonment of the primary political opponent of President Erdogan which led to thousands rallying to the streets to protest the collapse of democratic structures. The state retaliated by arresting thousands of people, including journalists.
As democracy declines within Turkey, the ceasefire with the PKK, and the strengthening cooperation with Iraq to combat terrorist activities of the PKK, Turkey becomes a more secure actor in the Middle East, putting the Kurds at further risk.
AP News, Maghrebi
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