Northern Iraqi provinces are flourishing with visitors flocking to social and cultural activities after Türkiye’s military operations cleared the region of PKK members that had terrorized security forces and civilians for years.
The PKK, which occupies hundreds of villages and prevents people from returning to their homes and cultivating their lands, targets police and civilians, along with the Peshmerga forces of the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).
But residents have been living in peace ever since Türkiye’s counterterrorism offensives have dealt the group’s activities with a heavy blow.
In Duhok province, which boasts 900 tourist spots, districts like Sheladiz have dozens of scenic spots but 85 of the 92 villages in the area had to be evacuated because of the PKK.
For the past two years, after PKK's presence dwindled, Sheladiz residents have been hosting water games and festivals on the Avashin River, simultaneously creating jobs for the region’s youths.
"Currently, the PKK's presence in Sheladiz has decreased. Young people can freely engage in their festivals and activities on the Avashin River," one of the locals Salar Ibrahim told Anadolu Agency (AA) during the third water festival held on the river on Tuesday.
Some of the region’s residents, however, are still unable to return to their villages because of the PKK.
The group impeded the delivery of services to the KRG, which halted road construction and many other projects, Duhok Governor Ali Tatar said.
"The PKK does not want this region to develop," Tatar said. "Our people cannot visit their villages and I’m from here and I cannot go back either."
Rebuilding obstructed
Speaking about the PKK presence in the region, Prime Minister of the KRG Masrour Barzani said in an interview with France24 in February 2021 that the "PKK, unfortunately, has taken advantage of our government's goodwill and occupied land."
"Sometimes, farmers are denied access to their lands. Most of the time they are even expelled from the villages. Some 800 villages could not be rebuilt because the PKK invaded mountains and even residential areas," Barzani said.
"We hope this won't escalate and that PKK will realize their military presence here will definitely not be tolerated by us."
The PKK is blacklisted as a terrorist organization in Türkiye, along with the United States and the European Union. It has waged a bloody insurgency in Türkiye since 1984 that has claimed tens of thousands of lives, including women and children.
Ankara maintains dozens of military bases in northern Iraq where it regularly launches operations against the group, which maintains a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains. In the last few years, intensifying operations in the region have demolished terrorist lairs in Metina, Avashin-Basyan, Zap and Gara.
After eradicating the group’s influence in these regions, Türkiye also aims to clear Qandil, Sinjar and Makhmour.
In a visit to Baghdad and Erbil last week aimed at improving bilateral ties, Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called on Iraqi officials to recognize PKK as a terrorist group, noting that the group could not be allowed to "poison our relations."
After meeting Fidan separately, Barzani too said they hope to continue cooperation with Türkiye against all kinds of terrorism in the region and assured they would not allow their region to be exploited to destabilize neighboring countries.