Turkey extends flight ban on Iraq's Sulaimaniyah airport for 6 months

ANKARA — Turkey has extended its flight ban on Iraqi Kurdistan’s Sulaimaniyah International Airport until December 2024, as Ankara presses Iraqi Kurdish leaders controlling Sulaimaniyah to distance themselves from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). 

Turkey’s first closed its airspace to flights traveling to and from the Sulaimaniyah airport in April 2023, with the Turkish Foreign Ministry citing "increasing PKK activity at the airport." Flights operated by Turkey’s flag carrier, Turkish Airlines, to and from the airport have also been suspended since that time. The latest extension of the ban was first reported by Iraqi Kurdish news outlet Rudaw on Saturday, citing Handren Mufti, the director of the airport. 

Sulaimaniyah is controlled by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the dominant political parties of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region in northern Iraq. Ankara accuses the PUK of providing support to the PKK, which has been waging an armed campaign against Turkish forces since 1984 for Kurdish self-rule inside Turkey. 

The flight ban on the airport is aimed at increasing the economic pressure on the Iraqi Kurdish party. The airport's growth was slowed by 20% last year largely due to the ban, according to local Iraqi media, citing an annual report by the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority. Currently, six airways have direct flights to the airport, including Iraqi Airways, flydubai and Qatar Airways.