Turkish police are pursuing anyone suspected of being linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (Anatolia)

Over the past few months, Turkey has been working hard to realign relations with Iraq, and there are two main reasons for this:

1- The structure of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Iraq has shifted from the mountains to the cities, and its attacks on Turkey have increased.

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2- The development road project, which Turkey attaches great importance to, will change the course of global maritime trade.

Both cautionary and cooperative steps

President Erdogan, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the head of the National Intelligence Service recently seriously warned the PUK leadership about its relations with the PKK in northern Iraq.

The head of the National Intelligence Agency, Ibrahim Kalin, visited Sulaymaniyah to express Turkey's alarm over its close cooperation with the PKK. Not only that, he told President Abdul Latif Al-Rashid during his visit to Baghdad that the administration of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan had opened room for the PKK to maneuver, which led to an increase in attacks on Turkish bases from northern Iraq.

As a result of the Turkish military operations called: “Claw, Lock” some time ago, and the operations carried out by the intelligence services against the leaders of the PKK with drones, the PKK moved from the mountainous regions to the south, towards Mosul, Kirkuk and other cities, and its bases increased.

To prevent this, Turkey, in cooperation with the Iraqi government, aims to expand its military operations during the summer months. It wants to prevent PKK attacks by creating a 30-kilometre-deep line from the Turkish border, with President Erdogan describing this as “closing the lock.”

Three men landed in Baghdad with important files

Defense Minister Yaşar Guler, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and National Intelligence Agency head Ibrahim Kalin paid a very important visit to Baghdad on March 14. This visit received great attention in the region. The three names had comprehensive files that they brought with them. One was the presence of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in Iraq, and the other was the future of the development road project. In fact, there is another issue that was not mentioned and was secretly discussed on the table, which is the question of whether the Baghdad administration will no longer act independently of Iran.

The Red Sea Development Road Project is a very important new trade route developed as an alternative to the Suez Canal. It will start from Al-Faw port in Basra, pass through Baghdad and Mosul, enter through the Turkish Ovakoy border gate and reach Europe.

The three officials sought to cooperate with the Baghdad government regarding the security of this road. One of the issues they were discussing was how to eliminate problems that might arise from Iran and the United States’ opposition to the path of development.

Why do Iran and the United States oppose the path of development?

The United States strongly supports the new trade route called the Indian Corridor, which strengthens Israel's hand. Despite the controversy over the usefulness and low cost of this project, which is an alternative to the Silk Road and China's Belt Road projects, the United States and India are very enthusiastic about this project.

The development route project, which includes Turkey, the UAE, and Iraq, is shorter, less expensive, and faster than the Indian corridor. However, the most serious problem is the security of the railway that will be built inside Iraq. As long as the PKK threatens this route, the project is unlikely to be implemented.

The United States does not welcome this project; Because of the Indian corridor. On the other hand, Iran does not support the project that would strengthen Iraq's economic independence and make Turkey a very important player in the global maritime trade route. The tool that the United States and Iran will use to sabotage the project is the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. In this context, the three Turkish officials who visited Iraq presented proposals to Baghdad to solve this problem.

A new page in Turkish-Iraqi relations

During the discussions with Baghdad, it was proposed to review relations between the two countries in many fields and open a new page for the development road project. Here are some recommendations:


1- Review the status and administration of Kirkuk, where Turkmen also live.


2- Expelling the Kurdistan Workers’ Party from Iraqi cities and lands.


3- Conducting a major military operation in northern Iraq in the summer, making the region completely safe. To this end, cooperation with Baghdad.


4- Securing the railway route expected to be constructed from Basra to the Turkish border.

There is no doubt that the Baghdad administration is very enthusiastic about the development road project, but it needs to solve two important problems: it must reach an agreement with the American and Iranian administrations, which have important bases in the country on this issue; Because, even if they do not declare it, both countries oppose the development road project and the complete neutralization of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party inside Iraq.

Türkiye is now awaiting the steps that the Baghdad administration will take. However, Turkey is determined to carry out a military operation to establish a 30-kilometre-deep security line on the Iraqi border in the summer months.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.