The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has denied accusations by the Iraqi Interior Ministry and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of burning Bazaars in Kirkuk, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Duhok, calling the charges baseless while the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK says it has fired those arrested before the incidents.
The (PKK) said in a statement that the attack was carried out by the Turkish intelligence agency (MIT) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). "It’s principled and unified positions have proved over time that it is a force that can be trusted by the peoples of Kurdistan and the Middle East."
The PKK has expressed its "deep" dissatisfaction with the Iraqi Interior Ministry's statement, saying the movement did its utmost to protect the Iraqi people and the Kurdish people in the fight against ISIS and even the Iraqi prime minister thanked them for that.
"The accusations that we burned the Bazaars and villages of Kirkuk, Erbil and Duhok are fabricated and unbelievable." It called on the Iraqi government and the Interior Ministry to "act responsibly on Turkish intelligence instructions" and reveal the real culprits.
We call on the Iraqi government and the Interior Ministry to act responsibly towards the instructions of Turkish intelligence
The Iraqi and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Interior Ministries held a joint press conference in Baghdad on Monday, July 1st, accusing the PKK of "planning and executing" of a number of arson incidents in Kirkuk, Erbil and Duhok.
Three suspects, two of whom are cadres of the PUK security forces, were arrested.
Miqdad Miri, Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman, told a news conference that the three-member group was involved in burning several Bazaars and other places in Kirkuk, including a fire that burned 27 shops and 14 warehouses.
“They were planning for further future actions in Erbil and Duhok.”
The Kurdistan Workers Party PKK is fighting Turkey since the 1980s and holding territories in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region IKR and the disputed territories.
When the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria ISIS took large swathes of Iraq including Shingal in August 2014, the Iraqi troops backed by Kurdish Peshmarga (fighters) and pro- PKK fighters ousted IS in October 2015. They deployed in several areas in the region.
Hemn Mirani, Director General of the Diwan for KRG Interior Ministry, said in the joint press conference that one of the three people he supervised, named (H, F, A), "an employee of the 70th unit (Peshmerga forces of the PUK). The other is named (M, N, H), who is an officer in the Counter-Terrorism Units CTU in Sulaimaniyah.
The PUK said it has fired both suspects ahead of their involvement in the incidents, accusing the Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP, which chairs KRG, of exploiting the events for elections propaganda.
"The person who is said to belong to the PUK's anti-terrorism unit has already been expelled and has been stripped of all privileges," Saadi Ahmad Pira, PUK spokesman told a news conference Monday evening, July 2nd.
"The spokesman of the Iraqi Interior Ministry did not mention the name of the PUK... Only the director of the Interior Ministry's office mentioned the names of the anti-terrorism and the 70th Forces as an election campaign," Pira added.
Meanwhile, the 70th PUK forces said in a statement on the accusation of an employee in the case, "in no way, far or near our forces have nothing to do with these incidents.”
According to Brigadier Miqdad Mir, the detainees confessed to trying to burn down the Mall of Kirkuk on October 10, 2023, another attempt to burn down the same mall on April 7, and on May 3, 2024, they burned down the Ismail Darwish building in Kirkuk.
In 2023 and 2024, the same group burned several Bazaars in the Kurdistan Region, including the Second Hand Bazaar in Erbil and the Chaly Bazaar in Duhok.
