Feed the crow, let it gouge out Kirkuk!..

The government has no problem with the collapse of the economy or being surrounded in foreign policy. Their only concern is the opposition, and their only action is operations. But we will still report on developments closely related to Turkey's security.

When Tufan Erhürman won the presidential elections in the TRNC, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, who had assigned the license plate '82' to Kirkuk in 2017, gave it to the TRNC, stating, "due to the urgency of the situation, I am making a partial revision for now." Following this, due to the Iraqi Parliamentary elections on November 11, we pointed to the activities of the Barzanis in historic Turkmen cities, especially Kirkuk, and said, "Pay attention not only to the TRNC but also to Kirkuk."

Now, let us recount the actions of Bafel Talabani, who took over the PUK after Jalal Talabani and declared Kirkuk "the red line of the PUK... the Jerusalem of Kurdistan."

When the PUK became the leading party in the provincial council elections held in Kirkuk on December 18, 2023, after an 18-year hiatus, our government's media emphasized that "the plan to de-Turkify Kirkuk was put back into effect in the election held after 18 years" and complained that "thousands of Turkmens who went to the polls were not allowed to vote under the pretext of a 'malfunction in the fingerprint system'." Meanwhile, the first to congratulate Bafel Talabani were the co-chairs of DEM, Tuncer Bakırhan and Tülay Hatimoğulları. These two figures, who are now walking the path of a 'solution process' with the government, declared that "the will of the peoples of Kirkuk is a hope for the Middle East geography against the efforts to rule and destabilize the region by dividing peoples according to their national identities and beliefs, within the scope of the divide-and-rule strategy of the nation-state mentality in the Middle East."

When it came time for the Kirkuk Provincial Council to elect a governor, meetings were constantly postponed because no party could reach a majority. Ankara's stance was as follows:

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that we wanted a "rotating governorship" system, adding, "It appears that the PUK has unexpectedly increased its votes... We continue to work to ensure there is no equation in the region where a PKK and PUK partnership establishes influence."

While the PUK and KDP, the party of the Barzanis who are close friends of Erdoğan, reached an agreement on "appointing a Kurdish governor to Kirkuk," the atmosphere in the pro-government media was that "Turkey's initiatives have yielded results: A Turkmen governor will manage Kirkuk after 100 years." Epics of "victory" were practically written.

But on Sunday, August 11, Talabani's party, the PUK, took three Arab and one Christian member with them and elected PUK member Rebwar Taha as governor of Kirkuk at a hotel in Baghdad.

And what did Ankara do?

First, an unnamed Foreign Ministry official announced that they would "closely follow the developments."

The next day, after the AKP Central Executive Committee meeting, and upon a journalist's question, Spokesperson Ömer Çelik merely spoke of "no one being excluded" and that "the rights of the KDP and the Turkmens must be granted," adding that "steps taken by factions by creating de facto areas and certain fragments will definitely lead to wrong results." In other words, he couldn't even say "it is null and void for us"!..

As for the team of Bahçeli, who gave the 82 license plate to Kirkuk, only Deputy Chairman and member of the TBMM Foreign Affairs Committee İsmail Özdemir stated in a social media post that "the games played to usurp the rights and laws of our Turkmen brothers in Kirkuk are in vain," that "Kirkuk will remain a Turkish land until eternity," and that "the global dark mind that occupied Iraq and then ignored the Turkmen presence will not reach its goal."

The result; two days later, Iraqi President Latif Rashid published the appointment decree for Rebwar Taha, who was elected governor at the hotel, and gave him his mandate. After taking the oath at the Kirkuk Court, he went to the Governor's Office under heavy security measures and sat in his chair!..

Meanwhile, it was seen that Kirkuk had already been divided; oil management, education, and military intelligence were given to the Kurds, and the police department was given to the Arabs.

The Embargo Ended with One Phone Call from Erdoğan

Our only problem with Bafel Talabani was not Kirkuk. We also had issues such as his entanglement with the Syrian PKK, having a hospital built for the PKK in Sulaymaniyah, allowing terrorists to use the airport, allocating helicopters to them, and providing them with training.

In March 2023, they were caught red-handed. When it was revealed that the helicopter that crashed in northern Iraq was carrying terrorists, Ankara imposed a flight ban on Sulaymaniyah within the framework of "the intensification of the activities of the PKK terrorist organization, the infiltration of the terrorist organization into the airport, and thus the threat to flight safety."

The then-Presidential Spokesperson, now MİT President İbrahim Kalın, said they would be "followers" of the helicopter incident and that they would "never allow the PKK to gain a foothold in its very serious structuring in Sulaymaniyah."

One month after the helicopter incident, when Mazloum Abdi, the head of the Syrian PKK, held a meeting with Americans near Sulaymaniyah Airport and his convoy was targeted by an unidentified SİHA, Ankara sent warning after warning to Bafel Talabani again, informing him that "further measures will be taken if he does not change his supportive attitude towards the PKK."

But to what avail; Talabani continued to call Kirkuk the "Jerusalem of Kurdistan" and demanded autonomy for the region where the Syrian PKK reigns.

With the situation as such, what happened on October 9?

Nechirvan Barzani, the president of Barzanistan, who came to Ankara and met with Erdoğan, requested the lifting of the flight ban imposed on Sulaymaniyah. And with the following dialogue:

Erdoğan: "Why are you so worried about Sulaymaniyah?"

Barzani: "I am the president of Kurdistan, and Sulaymaniyah is also my half."

According to allegations, after this dialogue, Erdoğan called the President of the Civil Aviation Authority and asked what the issue was. The President said the sanctions had been extended. While ordering the lifting of the ban, Erdoğan told Nechirvan Barzani, "your word is not refused.”

These were true; immediately after, the Barzanistan presidency offered its "thanks and appreciation" to Erdoğan... The THY Communications Head announced that "they are happy to bring the Sulaymaniyah line back to the skies"... Sulaymaniyah Governor Haval Abubakr also thanked Nechirvan Barzani for his "persistent demand and efforts in lifting the flight ban."

Just 22 days later, it was reported that "the skies of Sulaymaniyah have been reopened, the first THY plane will land on November 3," and flights were planned for four days a week.

And as stated, 2.5 years later, on November 3, the first Turkish plane landed in Sulaymaniyah with a ceremony attended by Airport Manager Rebaz Muhammad Khalil and THY Iraq Coordinator Halil Anlatan. While Airport Manager Khalil emphasized that the lifting of the flight ban was of great importance in terms of trade, he announced that the ban applied over the last 2.5 years had negatively affected trade by approximately 35 percent.

What "Favor" Did He Do?

Let us state that Nechirvan Barzani, whose request Erdoğan could not refuse, and Bafel Talabani, who suffered from the embargo, are on the same page regarding Kirkuk and the Syrian PKK, and let us write about Talabani's latest "favors.”

At a rally he held in Kirkuk on October 28 due to the Iraqi Parliamentary elections, while boasting, "We said we would make a young person from Kirkuk, a PUK member from Kirkuk, the governor from the poor families of Kirkuk. Half the world stood against us, but we overcame them and did it," he said the following:

"Look at how many companies have come to Kirkuk. Now the whole world wants to do business in Kirkuk. This is the PUK's program, Mam Jalal's program. Kirkuk is oil, it is land, it is blood, but it is Mam Jalal's bouquet of flowers... I have a special message from my heart, from the heart of the PUK, from the heart of Mr. Mam Jalal to the Arabs, Christians, Kaka'is, and Turkmens: we respect you, we defend you, we fight for you... Kirkuk students should study in Kurdish. This is their right. Kurdish is an official language in the Iraqi Constitution, and we remind them that this is a constitution. We will never accept being oppressed."

Talabani, in an election speech he gave the other day in Khanaqin, which they consider a "disputed territory" just like Kirkuk and see as part of Barzanistan, stated that "Khanaqin and the PUK will never be separated from each other," and challenged, "Either Kirkuk and Khanaqin or war forever.”

If Bahçeli knew about these, he would definitely ask Erdoğan, "Did they stop supporting the PKK and occupying Kirkuk, so the embargo was lifted?" wouldn't he?!