Turkey extends Sulaimani airport flight ban to 2024

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey on Monday extended the suspension of flights with Sulaimani International Airport until early January of next year, a source from Turkish Airlines said. The ban has been in effect since April 3. 

The Sulaimani office of Turkish Airlines told Rudaw that an official email was sent on Monday about Ankara’s decision to extend the flight ban on Sulaimani International Airport until January 3, 2024. 

“Our airline will comply with the decision and we will suspend flights from and to Sulaimani until the New Year,” the Erbil office of Turkish Airlines said. 

Flights were initially suspended on April 3 for three months, but Ankara provided no reason for taking the decision.

Days later, however, Turkish foreign ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgic said that the decision is related to the alleged “intensification” of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) activities in Sulaimani province, referring to the crash of two helicopters carrying Syria-based Kurdish fighters a month prior. 

Nine members of the Kurdish anti-terrorism forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were killed in the crash, including their commander, according to the SDF. The helicopters were bound for Sulaimani. 

The PKK is a Kurdish group fighting for the increased political and cultural rights of Kurds in Turkey and has waged an armed insurgency against Ankara for decades. It is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey alongside its alleged proxies in Syria.

Turkish officials have repeatedly accused Sulaimani authorities of supporting the PKK. Turkish forces often carry out aerial attacks in the province on the grounds of targeting the PKK. 

Following the events of October 2017, international airspace to Erbil and Sulaimani airports was ordered closed by the Iraqi federal government. Turkey and most other countries opened their airspace to planes bound for Erbil in March 2018. However, Ankara refused to open its airspace to flights bound for Sulaimani, citing  the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) alleged support to the PKK. 

In 2017, Ankara expelled the PUK’s representative to Turkey after the PKK captured two Turkish intelligence agents in Sulaimani province.