A top official from the Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) said on Sunday that the PKK terrorist organization destroys the homes of the poor, collects taxes and engages in extortion in the region.
Safeen Dizayee, the head of the KRG Department of Foreign Relations, told the Erbil-based Kurdistan TV channel that the PKK has created problems with Iraq in Makhmour, Sinjar, the vicinity of Kirkuk and in the Khanaqin region.
Adding the PKK considers itself “an alternative,” Dizayee said the KRG is an elected government and is responsible for these regions.
Criticizing how the terrorist group claims the right to impose its will and collect taxes from the people, he said the PKK changes the names of some regions such as Qandil.
He further added, “Who gave the right to change the names of these regions, to impose their own power, and to collect taxes and tributes from the people?”
Adding they would not tolerate the terror group’s presence in the region, KRG Prime Minister Masoud Barzani emphasized that the authorities could not rebuild 800 villages because of the PKK, in a statement on February 27, 2021, indicated.
PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq across Turkey’s southern border to plan terrorist attacks in the country.
After reports that the terrorist PKK was planning to launch a large-scale attack, stating the pre-emptive operation is in line with the UN Charter’s principle of self-defense, Turkey’s National Defense Ministry said it launched Operation Claw-Lock earlier this month.
The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the European Union, has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants, in its more than 35-year terror campaign against the country.
