“Saron” list led by Muqtada al-Sadr which topped the results of the parliamentary elections held on May 12 with 54 seats is no longer the only surprise in it but another surprise is that the Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has secured a seat within the Iraqi parliament through Yusra Rajab Kammer, the candidate of the Kurdish New Generation (Al-Jeel Al-Jadeed) led by Kurdish businessman Chaswar Abdul Wahid in Sulaymaniyah, a Kurdish movement that emerged early last year as a movement Opposing to the two main parties in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, “the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. Yusra Rajab Kamme headed the movement of Freedom of the Kurdistan Community in the Karamian district of Sulaymaniyah, who has won in the last elections in Sulaymaniyah. It is practically one of the cadres of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which opposes Ankara. She is a professor and holds a master’s degree in Public international law.
The movement of Freedom of the Kurdistan Community was founded in 2014 by the Turkish Kurdistan Workers ‘Party (PKK) as a front for civil and media work following the control of the terrorist organization ISIS on some of Iraq’s provinces in June 2014, and the entry of militia of the Kurdish Workers’ to Nineveh province and a number of disputed areas between Baghdad and Erbil, such as Mosul, Sinjar and Makhmour. The PKK recruited hundreds of Iraqi Kurds in Sulaymaniyah, Dohuk and other areas inside and outside the Kurdistan region, such as Kirkuk and Sinjar, to work for it, both in armed action and in various associations and organizations, as the case with the Kurdistan Freedom Movement.
The movement, along with other fronts, is accused of supporting the PKK and adopting an anti-Turkey speech, especially through its websites and online newspapers, which have so far numbered more than 10 websites. In this context, experts on the Kurdish issue see that the movement “Freedom of the Kurdistan Society,” is an extension or alternative to the Kurdistan Democratic Al-Hal party, which was founded in 2002 in the Kurdistan region, as a front for the Labor Party, before it was ended in 2012. They added the movement is “A social political organization based on the ideas of Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the PKK, as an intellectual source to it , as well as the movement has headquarters and offices in the whole of the Kurdistan region. Naji pointed out that the most prominent positions of the movement are “its refusal to hold a referendum to separate the Kurdistan region from Iraq, in addition to the demand for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Iraqi territory.”
In the first statement of Rajab Kemer after the announcement of the results, she made anti -Turkey statements to the media close to the PKK , and said that one of the points of its program in parliament is to collect votes against external interference and occupation and to address it adding that «the first article of the Iraqi constitution emphasizes a unified homeland with sovereignty , and Article 8 of the Constitution states that Iraq does not allow any interference from any state». Kamar called on openly to confront Turkey and added “The Turkish state invaded Iraq tens of kilometers and built barracks and military bases with bad intentions, so we must thwart this occupation plan and confront it,”. The official page of Kamar is full of the the images of Abdullah Ocalan and the flags of the “PKK” and slogans, as well as she shows meetings with leaders of the party and dealt with topics attacking Turkey’s operations in Syria and Iraq against the “PKK.”
Observers of the Iraqi issue warn of the consequences of the success of its candidate, the province of Sulaymaniyah, the fact that the party listed on the Turkish and American terrorist lists . It is noteworthy that the PKK tried earlier during the previous elections to enable its candidates to the parliament of Iraq and Kurdistan, but all its attempts failed. Whether they are right or not, that the party is classified by the United States of America, Europe and the Turkish government as a terrorist organization, and the participation of a person calculated on such an organization in the political process in the country will have negative effects on the entire process .It is not ruled out that Turkey will file a lawsuit against this candidate .
And they assert that it is clear that the PKK was working with all his weight to make the success of his candidate in the list of the new generation (Al-jeel Al-Jadeed ), where the leadership of Mount Kandil explicitly called on to the election of their candidate »The success of Yusra Rajab Kammer revealed the broad presence and influence of the party, with the consent of the forces controlling the province, Which prompted Turkey to not lift the ban on Sulaymaniyah International Airport. Her victory also reveals the extent to which terrorist military organizations have penetrated into Iraqi institutions. In the view of political analysis, that the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan support the PKK in the earlier stages significantly, so as to get access to the Iraqi Council of Representatives, the success of this candidate will have a negative impact on the National Union, while the Union seeks to improve relations with Turkey in addition to the negative effects that will be on the whole province, Turkey is currently a key player in the region, and it is not for the benefit of the Kurdistan Region to deteriorate relations with Turkey or Iran or any other country because of the Kurdistan Workers Party ».
In this context also , the political analysis see that Iraq ‘s position currently is better now, and does not need to strain its position with the surrounding countries of the region ,” adding that too much partisanship , and trying to keep Iraq out of its regional environment, created a defect in the past and should not be repeated, because the regional environment has proved of being of much importance to Iraq. When Iraq opened its relationship with neighboring countries, specifically with Turkey, Arab countries and Iran, we found that the country went to stability and victory in the war on the terrorist organization ISIS , and I believe that everyone should abide by Iraqi law and abide by the unified Iraqi political discourse.
Iraq in the phase after the defeat the terrorist organization ISIS is in dire need at the internal level to rebuild it and rebuild national unity, popular cohesion, to assemble around the goal of the reform movement to promote Iraq, and at the external level Iraq also needs to maintain positive relations with neighboring countries such as Turkey, it is not in his interest to antagonize a country of significant regional weight in the Middle East. Iraq needs deputies working for the good of Iraq and its promotion, not deputies implementing an agenda in favor of non-Iraqi parties that are regionally and internationally described as a terrorist. This is not what Iraq needs.
Iraqi Studies Unit
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies