'PKK allied and working with Iraqi PMF and Lebanese Hezbollah': Deputy Peshmerga Minister

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Shiite Lebanese Hezbollah militia are working together, the Kurdistan Region Deputy Minister of Peshmerga Sarbast Lazgin told Kurdistan 24 on Sunday. 

"Some of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), the Syrian government, and the Lebanese Hezbollah are allied with PKK," Lazgin told Kurdistan 24. "They support each other and work together toward the same goals." 

"This alliance has an open route all the way from Syria, through Sinjar, Mosul, Kirkuk, and to Iran, which is under control of PMF," he said. 

Read More: Sinjar will never be stable if PKK remains there: Official

Lazgin stated that foreign powers use the PKK against the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), adding that the PKK is implementing foreign agendas in Iraq and Syria. 

"Without having the PKK here in the Kurdistan Region, what other pretext would the Turkish Army have to come to Kurdistan Region?" Lazgin said. "The same case applies to Syria."

The minister also said that is silence from the international community on Turkey's military operations in the Kurdistan Region and Syria, claiming that's due to the PKK presence in those areas.

"The PKK has military bases near Chamchamal district, Sulaimani province, from where they cooperate with the groups that launch rockets on Erbil," said Lazgin. "We [KRG] have repeatedly called on the PKK to stop its armed operations in the Kurdistan Region."

Read More: PKK rocket attack kills 2 children in Duhok: CTD

Lazgin stated that the PKK fighting has no impact on Turkey, and all it does is drag the Turkish Army deeper into the Kurdistan Region. 

"All the areas left by the PKK, including areas around Zakho district, Amedy district, Sidekan sub-district, and Haji-Omaran border areas, are now under the control of the Turkish Army," he said. 

Read More: 'PKK has no legal or constitutional justification for staying in Sinjar': Experts

The Lebanese Hezbollah was established in the early 1980s by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the wake of Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. It is both a political movement and a militant group. 

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declared in 2021 that the group has around 100,000 fighters. 

The United States and the European Union have designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization. On the other hand, Iraq and Russia view Hezbollah as a legitimate political movement. 

Iraq's parliament recently passed a bill criminalization any normalization with Hezbollah’s arch-nemesis Israel. 

Read More: Iraq passes bill criminalizing normalization with Israel