Referring to the Iraqi Prime Minister's visit to Turkey and meeting with Iraqi officials and its impact on the situation of the Kurds, Hikmat Sarbiland, the President General of the Kurdistan Islamic Party (PIK), said: "Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi visited Turkey. And meeting with President Erdogan will have a hidden and negative impact on the situation of the Kurds in Iraq and Turkey.

He continued: "The Turkish government uses every opportunity to attack the achievements of the Kurds and wants to destroy the existence and political achievement of the Kurds with the cooperation of the regional powers so that the Kurds do not have a political status in any region."

He added: "Before Kadhimi's visit to Turkey and during this year, Turkey launched intense attacks against the border areas of the Kurdistan Region. In addition, it shells the border areas every day and at the same time strengthens its military bases in the region, which shows that Turkey intends to blockade the Kurdistan region.

"In addition to the military issue, Turkey wants to make the Kurdistan region economically dependent on itself. Turkey, in cooperation with other actors in the region, is increasing the differences among other Kurdish groups and wants the Kurds to fight against each other in a civil war," the party leader further told KurdPress.

The Secretary General of the Islamic Party of Kurdistan (PIK) further explained: "This visit took place while the central government of Iraq cut the budget of the Kurdistan Region and the popular protests in the Kurdistan Region increased while their (Turkey and Iraq) role in inciting the protesters to violence was clear." Several people were killed and some government offices in the region were destroyed in the protests.

He added: "The goal of both sides is political and economic pressure on the KRG, and in this regard, several agreements have been concluded between them, one of which is in the field of oil."

"One of these agreements is over oil, and Baghdad wants Iraqi oil not to be transferred to Turkey through the Kurdistan region. The second issue is water. The third issue is political and economic agreements over making pressure on the Kurdistan Region and the establishment of a land border," Mr. Sarbiland stressed in the interview.

Explaining Turkey's intentions over the Kurdish region, the politician said: "Turkey wants to increase its dominance over the region, and both Turkey and Iraq consider the existence of the Kurdish entity as a provocative factor and want to destroy the achievement."

Hikmat Sarbiland added: "This is a clear message and does not need to be analyzed. Turkey does not want to strengthen the Kurdistan region, politically, economically and militarily, and it will try to destroy this settlement by any means, and Kadhimi's visit is evaluated in the same framework."

The president general of the Kurdistan Islamic Party (PIK) said: "The same policy continues in Turkish Kurdistan and the Erdogan government expels Kurdish politicians from parliament and imprisons them and appoints government trustees for the Kurdish-run municipalities."

"Erdogan is at war with all the Kurds and has been waging a large-scale war against the Kurds in Turkey, Syria and Iraq for a long time. Erdogan did not stop here and, along with Putin and Trump, extended his interfere to international events in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh and other places," the party leader continued to say.

He continued: "Erdogan's lucky star has fallen and no one is with Erdogan policies, especially after the elections in the US where Trump, as Erdogan's friend, did not win the race and Biden was elected victorious, and Biden is pursuing an anti-Erdogan policy."

"Biden supported the Kurds in the elections and somehow supported the political existence of the Kurds, and considered the cooperation between Putin and Erdogan on putting pressure on the Kurds as an insult, and this shows that Erdogan can no longer pursue his policies against the Kurds," Mr. Sarbiland also said.

The PIK president general stressed: Erdogan wants to launch an attack on the Kurds before Biden comes to power and use this gap to his advantage, and al-Kadhimi's visit to Ankara was to put pressure on the Kurds, especially the Kurdistan Region."

Regarding the role of the Kurdistan Region in the regional politics, the Kurdish politician said: "The Kurdistan Region, as an autonomous region in Iraq, plays an important role in regional politics and the consulates of many important countries in the world are located in this region and it is considered as an important and decisive Kurdish base for the Kurds and that is why they intend to disrupt its order."

Mr. Sarbiland added: "The consequences of this trip were immediately clear and some nights ago, Turkey shelled 8 villages in the Zakho region. Erdogan wants to make the region more economically, politically and militarily dependent, and he wants to repeat the same policy in Syrian Kurdistan and Shingal."

"2021 could be an important and fateful year for the Kurds if the Kurds would reach unity and agreement on various issues. The world would count on the Kurds if Kurdish movements would pursue their common interests," the politician concluded.

Reporter's code: 50101