Erdogan applauds Iraqi Kurds' neutrality during Iran war

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has commended the Iraqi Kurds for not getting drawn into the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Speaking in Ankara on Wednesday, Erdogan praised “our brothers in the Iraqi Kurdish region” for refusing involvement in the conflict and not allowing their territory to be used as launch pads for attacks on neighbouring countries.

“Greater strife that could have harmed our Kurdish brothers and sisters has been prevented,” Erdogan said, adding that, over time, “it will become much clearer just how bloody and insidious a scheme we have thwarted together as Turks, Kurds, Arabs and Iranians”.

Throughout the months-long assault, Kurdish officials publicly sought to distance themselves from the war, warning that involvement could plunge the region into chaos, despite numerous attacks on their territory by Iran and allied Iraqi groups.

In early March, days after the US and Israel launched the war on Iran, Trump told Reuters that he would back Kurdish forces launching an offensive against Iran. This came amid media reports that the CIA was arming the Kurds. 

Speaking to Middle East Eye later in March, top Iraqi Kurdish commander Sirwan Barzani dismissed western media reports that Iraqi Kurds were helping Iranian Kurds cross the border to fight the Iranians.

Barzani said his forces had no plans to invade Iran, despite being exasperated by hundreds of Iranian attacks on their bases.

Several leaders of Iranian Kurdish parties have also denied to MEE that they received weapons from the US, after President Donald Trump said that Washington had sent weapons to the Iranian protesters through the Kurds.

Turkey has long viewed Kurdish armed movements across the region as a national security threat and has repeatedly warned against attempts to mobilise Kurdish factions in regional conflicts.