Flights Between Turkey and Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah Resume After Two-Year Ban

AL-SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq — The first Turkish aircraft landed at Sulaymaniyah International Airport in Iraq’s Kurdish region early on November 3, marking the end of a two-and-a-half-year ban on flights imposed by Turkey. The ban was initiated due to concerns over the activities of the PKK, a designated terrorist organization.

The Turkish government lifted the flight suspension last month following discussions between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Kurdish Regional President Nechirvan Barzani. The first flight carried around 100 passengers and was greeted with a welcoming ceremony upon arrival.

Airport Director Rebaz Mohammed Khalil announced that flights between Istanbul and Sulaymaniyah will operate four times a week, with plans to increase the frequency in the coming months. Khalil emphasized the ban’s negative impact on trade, stating that commercial activity plummeted by nearly 35 percent during the suspension.

Currently, Turkish Airlines will conduct round-trip flights on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays, with a shift to daily flights starting March 26. A passenger at the airport reflected on the convenience of the resumed service, sharing how previous trips required lengthy connections through Doha. “Today, we made it here from Istanbul in just four and a half hours,” he said.

The flight ban was put in place on April 3, 2023, amidst heightened security concerns regarding PKK operations in Sulaymaniyah. The PKK has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey that has spread to Iraq and Syria, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths. Earlier this year, the PKK agreed to disband and renounce armed conflict as part of a peace initiative with Turkey, including a disarmament ceremony held near Sulaymaniyah in July.