Iraq Turkmen Front leader, Ershad Salihi, says the PKK is using drug trafficking across the country to support its terrorist activities.

Recent revelations from some prominent Iraqi figures like Ershad Salihi, the leader of Kirkuk-based Iraq Turkmen Front, show that the PKK has increased its illegal drug trafficking activities across the country to finance its terror network.

The US, Turkey and the EU designate the PKK as a terror organisation.

“We speak about these issues [on their drug trafficking] based on concrete evidence,” Salihi tells TRT World.

In July, Iraqi security forces launched an anti-narcotic operation in Kirkuk detaining two suspects. Kirkuk is an oil-rich city, which has been in a political dispute between Turkmens, Kurds and Arabs for a long time.

“These two drug dealers are from Ranya and Kalar, where the PKK terrorist organisation has serious activities. Kirkuk police department released one of the drug dealers under pressure from some outside powers [which appeared to have connections with the PKK] after it launched its investigation,” Salihi says.

Ranya and Kalar are towns located in Sulaymaniyah, a heavily Kurdish-populated city in Erbil-based Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq. Kurdish authorities from both Erbil and Sulaymaniyah were involved in applying pressure on Kirkuk’s law enforcement to release one of the suspects, according to Salihi.

“As a result, unfortunately, the Kirkuk prosecutor released him. The other suspect is still under detention, waiting for his court day,” the Iraqi Turkmen leader says.

Kirkuk: a transit point

“We expect a clear statement from the Iraqi intelligence that these illicit drugs came to Kirkuk from Kalar. In recent months, through the drug trafficking, using Kirkuk as a transit point between northern Iraq and southern Iraq, the PKK has been able to garner a lot of financial sources,” he says.

Kirkuk, a strategic city located in central Iraq between Kurdish-populated north and Shia-Arab populated south, has long been a transitional point for various trade activities as well as human smuggling and illegal drug trafficking.

“Using these kinds of drug groups, the PKK terror organisation transfers illicit drug materials from northern Iraq to Kirkuk and then, from Kirkuk to southern Iraq,” Salihi says.

Salihi has also called on both central Iraqi authorities and the Kurdish regional government to go after the PKK’s illicit drug activities more firmly. “This is a serious problem for us because this poison has been mostly distributed to people living in Kirkuk,” he says.

“We have a close eye on their drug trafficking activities anyway,” he says, adding that he continues to receive information on their activities from Iraqi intelligence.

The PKK’s leading figures, Murat Karayilan, Cemil Bayik, Duran Kalkan, Ali Riza Altun, and Zubeyir Aydar, have been designated as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers (SDNT) by the US Department of Treasury at different times between the 1990s to 2010s.

“To secure funding, the PKK has long engaged in criminal activities such as trafficking of counterfeit money, illegal foreign currency exchanges, smuggling, tax evasion, and drug dealing,” wrote Matthew Levitt, the Fromer-Wexler Fellow and director of the Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at American think-thank The Washington Institute, in an article.

“As a result of the PKK's increasing activity in the international narcotics trade, the Treasury Department has designated the group a significant foreign narcotics trafficker in May 2008,” Lewitt added.

In 2011, the UN also drew attention to the PKK’s drug trade in one of its reports, saying that political instability across Iraq helped the terror group use the country as a centre of its trafficking activities, bringing Afghan heroin into the country.

The PKK has reportedly earned hundreds of millions of dollars from its drug trafficking.

Since the late 1990s, the PKK has operated its terror network from northern Iraq’s Qandil Mountains. Turkey demands both the KRG and central government authorities to kick the group out of Iraqi territories.

“Everybody knows that terror groups like Daesh and the PKK have long exploited certain security breaches across the country to benefit their networks from illicit drug trade,” says Salihi.

These armed groups use different tactics including bribing both security forces responsible for checkpoints and customs officials responsible for border gates to conduct their illegal business, according to Salihi.

PKK assassinations

In October, the PKK, whose decades of terror have led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people across Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, killed Gazi Salih Ilhan, the manager of Serzer bordergate between Iraq and Turkey, according to Bekir Aydogan, the Erbil-based correspondent of Anadolu Agency.

After the killing, Mesrur Barzani, the KRG prime minister and the son of Masoud Barzani issued a strong statement. In it, they condemned Ilhan’s killing by “terrorists led by dark forces”, promising that the “people responsible for the killing will pay a heavy price”.

The PKK has also recently clashed with KRG peshmergas, particularly the ones loyal to Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). The KDP and the PKK have long been at loggerheads over a number of issues.

In July 2019, the terror group also assassinated Osman Kose, a Turkish diplomat, in Erbil.

“The PKK has also been involved in assassinations against Turkmen [in Iraq]. One of our office managers was killed by the PKK two years ago according to our own information,” Salihi says.

But now that the PKK is resorting to actions, according to Salihi, there may be serious problems ahead, both socially and politically, for the Iraqi people.

“There have recently been some incidents in Sulaymaniyah. Their fingerprints were there,” says the Turkmen leader, referring to alleged PKK involvement in some protests in the northeastern city of Iraq.

“In regions like Kalar, Kifri and Garmiyan, which are under the control of Kurdish parties [like the KDP and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)], they appeared to become more active,” he adds.

The Turkmen leader also sent a strong message to all Iraqi Kurdish parties, demanding they do not allow PKK activities in regions under their control. “At the end, if they allow the PKK activities in their regions, their inaction will damage the Kurds,” he views.

“The PKK did not help any Kurds. Instead, Kurds living across Iraq, Syria, Iran and Turkey have suffered from the PKK,” he concludes. /TRT

Turkey set up a trade center Friday in the US city of Chicago to expand Turkish exporters' network and to ensure products exist in target countries with their name, brand and quality.   

"The US is among 44 countries where we broke an export record last year," Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said during the online opening ceremony. "Now, the important thing is to make this momentum we have achieved with the US continuous and sustainable."

Emphasizing the government always strives to provide services in a more institutional way, Pekcan said: "Our trade center model abroad is actually an institutionalization story, offering common opportunities, providing a cost advantage, while providing the promotion of Turkish products."

Pekcan said the global competitive environment is changing every day, with new concepts, institutions and instruments are emerging.

"This leads business people, exporters, policy makers and all relevant economic actors to develop different ways and methods in global competition and be innovative," he said.  

Turkey to open trade centers in China, India

Also commenting on the center, Rifat Hisarciklioglu, the chairman of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), said the Union's first trade center was opened in Chicago.

Turkey has taken a big step to establish the center because the US is the world's largest importer with an annual volume of $2.5 trillion and it has high purchasing power, he said. "Hopefully Turkish business cycle will enlarge its network in the US different states after having experiences in Chicago."

The city is the production center for US industry, at the junction point of rail, road and seaway networks, he said. "The country buy consumer goods worth $650 billion per year, importing food and beverages worth $150 billion, bringing $70 billion of furniture in its soils."

Stating TOBB placed an area of ​​10,000 square meters for Turkish companies next to O'hare International Airport, where the world's third most intensive air cargo transportation is carried out, he said: "The headquarters and logistics base of many giant companies from the Fortune 500 list are here and Turkish companies will now be in the center of the network.

"With this move, we now say to our companies, 'Come, get a share from this 2.5 trillion dollar market.'"

He also noted more trade centers in markets such as China and India will be established in the future.

Turkish doctors from Istanbul’s Marmara University discovered a cure for CHAPLE syndrome, a newly discovered deadly childhood disease. 

Dr. Ahmet Oguzhan Ozen and his team from the school’s Faculty of Medicine will go down in history for finding a treatment for the disease that they were first to diagnose in 2017.

CHAPLE syndrome is seen in early childhood with intestinal complaints, including stomach aches, diarrhea, vomiting and has complications such as vascular occlusions and frequent infections that can cause death.

Ozen and his team’s success were cited by the prestigious Nature Immunology medical journal.

Dr. Ozen said, "It [CHAPLE syndrome] appears with low albumin and intestinal complaints. Patients frequently apply to the hospital for albumin treatment. But later, structural disorders develop in the vessels and the blood tends to clot too much," according to a statement from Marmara University. "Severe vascular occlusion can occur even in childhood. Unfortunately, many patients die early due to these complications.”

He said his team has been working hard for five years to find the cause of the disease and as a result of their intensive work, they found a drug, Eculizumab, which is 100% effective./aa

HAKKARI, Turkey

Police in southeastern Turkey captured more than 54 kilograms (119 pounds) of heroin, local authorities said on Friday.

Drug was discovered in a suspicious vehicle that was stopped at police check-point at the Yuksekova district of Hakkari province, said a statement by the local governor’s office.

The driver of the car was arrested, the statement added./aa

Turkish experts predict a return to “relative normal” at the end of the summer as the novel coronavirus continues to affect people worldwide. 

Dr. Mustafa Necmi Ilhan, dean at Gazi University Medical School in the capital Ankara and a member of the Health Ministry’s Social Science Board, and Dr. Mustafa Cetiner, an internal medicine specialist, offered their insight to Anadolu Agency on the course of the pandemic and when life will return to normal.

Pointing out that it is not yet possible to say exactly when the pandemic will end, Ilhan said that looking at the current stage together with people complying with restrictions and the introduction of vaccinations, it is going “better” both in Turkey and in the world.

"We cannot say when the pandemic will end precisely, but that will happen when 60%-70% of the society develops antibodies against the coronavirus, in other words, what we call ‘herd immunity’ occurs,” he said.

“This is most likely through immunization.”

Highlighting that Turkey has reported over 2 million coronavirus cases so far, Ilhan said: “It is possible to say that when we reach an immunization level of about 60%-70%, there will be less transmission of the coronavirus between people.”

‘Better normal’

While pointing out that the number of cases also started to drop in the last two weeks, Ilhan said this should not cause complacency in society as the risk of contracting the disease is still quite high.

“If people do not wear a mask because ‘I have been vaccinated or overcame the disease,’ do not comply with social distancing, if they are in a crowd, if they do not pay attention to hygiene, they should know that there will always be a risk of [contracting] the coronavirus,” he warned.

“When we reach a certain level in vaccination and the society obeys the precautionary rules, we can lead a relatively normal life at the end of the summer months,” he said.

He added that “a better normal life” compared to the current conditions depends solely on compliance with the level and measures reached in social immunization.

‘Vaccination does not mean normal life in a day’

For his part, Cetiner said that if the virus mutates and contagiousness increases, individual measures such as masks, social distancing and hand hygiene are among the most effective solutions to prevent the disease.

Noting that vaccines are the biggest weapon and the key to exiting the pandemic, he said: “However, unfortunately, it is not possible for us to return to our normal daily lives in one day with vaccines.

“It will take time to achieve widespread immunization and community immunity,” he said.

“When will the pandemic end? When will the virus become harmless? When will the measures end? Unfortunately, it is not possible to give a clear date.”

According to Cetiner, returning to normal depends on variables such as the effectiveness of common vaccination programs, the desire or adaptation of the society to be vaccinated, the continuation of compliance with the most basic measures during this period, how long vaccines will provide immunity and whether there will be new mutations.

Cetiner predicted the earliest time for the return to normal is late summer or the fall of 2021.

He recalled remarks by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US, who said that with mass coronavirus vaccination programs, a return to normal might start from October 2021.

Pointing out that in the case of vaccination, measures should be continued for a while, Cetiner said it is “because we still do not know how much vaccines prevent contagion.”

“Even if we are vaccinated, we may risk infecting someone else with COVID-19,” he said. “Vaccines are not 100% protective, and herd immunity will take time to be gained./aa

JAKARTA, Indonesia(AA)

The UN must intervene to stop New Delhi’s “inhumanity and gross violation of international laws” in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, a Malaysian group said on Wednesday.

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations (MAPIM) calls for an end to the impunity given to Indian forces to crush the Kashmiri freedom struggle, Azmi Abdul Hamid, the group’s president, said in a statement.

He said India has brought thousands of troops into the disputed region with no regard for the rights of the Kashmiri people.

“The brutalities of more than 900,000 Indian troops against Kashmiris are a clear violation of all international laws. It is more than just an occupation – it is extermination,” said Hamid, urging the UN to immediately intervene.

The statement said India’s worsening rights violations and forced demographic changes to transform Kashmir from a Muslim-majority territory to a Hindu-dominated region was “a dangerous path.”

“Regional instability will be an imminent outcome if this continues to be neglected,” it said.

The council accused Indian forces of carrying out extrajudicial murders, custodial torture, and detaining people without any charge under the pretext of anti-terror operations.

Calling for India to be held responsible for its “crimes against humanity” in the region, Hamid said there was a need for greater diplomatic pressure and courage for a firm stand against New Delhi.

The council also expressed concern over conditions faced by freedom activists who have been tortured in custody and barred from proper legal representation.

Referring to Asiya Andrabi and her associates, it said due course of law was not followed in the case and the leader of the pro-freedom group Dukhtaran-e-Millat, or Daughters of the Nation, has been falsely charged.

Indian courts also denied Andrabi access to a proper legal counselor, the MAPIM statement said.

“The possibility of her being sentenced to death by Indian courts is imminent. The international community must not remain silent on this issue,” the council added, calling for Andrabi’s unconditional release and for charges against her to be dropped.