Tourists enter Turkey through Kurdistan–Iran border

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) – Tourists in the Kurdistan Region are currently using the international border crossing of Haji Omaran along the Kurdistan Region–Iran border in order to enter Turkey since its border crossing, Ibrahim Khalil, between Turkey-Kurdistan Region is temporarily closed for tourists.

For nearly three weeks Ibrahim Khalil has been closed due to ongoing nearby clashes taking place between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters and the Turkish Army. 

Since the closure of Ibrahim Khalil, tourists in the Kurdistan Region have been using Haji Omaran, the next closest route to Turkey. 

On Tuesday, the director of Haji Omaran border crossing, Masoud Bateli told K24, "Fifty tourists have traveled to Turkey through our border crossing."

Ahmet Adil, one of the thousands of Kurdish tourists at Haji Omaran wanted to enter Iran. "It has been almost three weeks that we are waiting for the border crossing to be reopened. My brother and I decided to go to Turkey through Iran," Adil told K24 on Tuesday.

However, recently Haji Omaran has faced heavy snowfall which has blocked the roads; as a result the border gets closed temporary.

A source from Haji Omaran told K24 that the Iranian administration has asked the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to clean both sides of the border from snowfall.

“The KRG has refused to do so—KRG cleaned its side of the border, but the other side is under the responsibility of Iran, not us [KRG],” the source said.

On Tuesday, though Turkey reopened Ibrahim Khalil, it is currently only accessible to commercial traffic and businessmen.

(Tayfur Mohammed from Erbil contributed to this report)