Türkiye Extends Flight Ban on Sulaimani Airport for Another Three Months

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - The Turkish government has once again extended its comprehensive flight ban affecting Sulaimani International Airport, prolonging a punitive policy that is now approaching its third year and continuing to isolate a major urban and economic center of the Kurdistan Region from a key international air corridor.

In a statement released on Monday, the administration of Sulaimani International Airport confirmed that it had been officially notified of Ankara's decision to prolong the suspension of all flights for another three-month period, pushing the potential resumption of services to at least January 6, 2026.

This latest extension deepens the long-standing deadlock over what Türkiye has consistently described as "security concerns," a position that has resisted numerous high-level diplomatic efforts by officials from both the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to find a resolution.

The official notification, issued by the Turkish Civil Aviation Authority, reaffirms a complete and total closure of the country's airspace to any and all air traffic connected to Sulaimani.

As the airport's statement on Monday indicated, this means Turkish airspace will be closed to all flights that are either conducted from Sulaimani Airport or that intend to land at the airport.

This comprehensive ban, which first came into effect on April 3, 2023, has a wide-ranging and damaging impact. It not only suspends all direct flights between Sulaimani and various cities in Türkiye, a popular destination for tourism, business, and medical travel, but it also critically affects flights that would otherwise use Turkish airspace as a transit route to reach destinations in Europe and beyond, forcing airlines to either cancel routes or undertake costly and time-consuming detours.

Over the course of more than two years, senior Kurdish officials have made repeated attempts to engage with their Turkish counterparts to address Ankara's stated concerns and lift the economically and socially damaging blockade.

As the airport's statement noted, prominent figures including Qubad Talabani, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, have been involved in these discussions. However, despite these sustained diplomatic overtures, the talks have so far failed to yield any significant or lasting results, leaving the airport and the people of the Sulaimani governorate in a state of prolonged uncertainty.

This latest three-month extension continues a policy that has been renewed several times. In a similar development on January 6, 2025, Turkish authorities extended the ban for a six-month period, a decision that was confirmed at the time by Handren Hiwa, the Director of Sulaimani International Airport, who had received the notification via email.

The core justification for this long-running policy has been Ankara's allegation that the airport has become a "hub" for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). This is a claim that officials in Sulaimani have consistently and vehemently rejected, insisting that the airport is a purely "civilian" facility and has no involvement in military or illicit activities.

Despite the clear political and security undertones of the dispute, Turkish officials have consistently sought to frame the issue in purely administrative and security terms, denying any hostile intent toward the people of the Sulaimani region.

In an exclusive interview with Kurdistan24 in May 2025, Türkiye’s Consul General in the Kurdistan Region, Erman Topçu, firmly denied that the ban was politically motivated. "The reason for Türkiye’s policy toward Sulaimani Airport is purely a matter of security concerns. It has absolutely nothing to do with our brothers in Sulaimani. This is an administrative issue," Topçu explained.

He emphasized Türkiye's deep historical and cultural ties to the city, stating, "Sulaimani is a historically important city for us. We have never had a negative stance toward the city... the people of Sulaimani are our brothers."

However, the Consul General also made it clear that a resolution was contingent on Sulaimani addressing Ankara's unspecified security demands.

"Türkiye has certain expectations. If those expectations are met and the security concerns are addressed, I am confident that an agreement can be reached regarding the airport," he said, urging that the matter "should not be politicized." This stance, while diplomatically framed, places the onus for resolving the crisis squarely on the authorities in Sulaimani.

The current flight ban is not without historical precedent, a fact that highlights the long-standing and complex nature of the relationship between Ankara and the political leadership in Sulaimani. Türkiye has previously used airspace closures as a tool of political leverage against the governorate.

Following the Kurdistan Region's independence referendum in September 2017, Ankara joined Baghdad in imposing an international flight ban on both Erbil and Sulaimani airports. However, in March 2018, after the federal government in Baghdad lifted its ban, Türkiye made the selective decision to resume flights only to Erbil International Airport, while keeping the suspension on Sulaimani in place for over a year.

At that time, Türkiye's justification was its claim that the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Gorran (Change) Movement—the two dominant political parties in the Sulaimani governorate—had been providing support to the PKK.

The continuation of this punitive policy presents a complex and seemingly contradictory element within the broader, and largely positive, regional context of a developing peace process in Türkiye.

This new era of reconciliation was initiated by a call from the PKK's jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, on February 27, 2025, for an end to the armed struggle. Following this, the PKK held a congress in May where it formally announced the dissolution of its military wing, a decision that was followed by a symbolic disarmament ceremony in July in the Jasena Cave, located in Sulaimani province.

The development was hailed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a "historic victory" and the opening of a "new page in Türkiye's history," with a parliamentary commission now established in Ankara to manage the legal and political dimensions of the transition.

Against this backdrop of historic de-escalation, Ankara's persistent isolation of Sulaimani Airport highlights the deep-seated and lingering nature of its "security concerns."

While the armed conflict has formally ended, the policy suggests that Turkish authorities continue to perceive the PUK-controlled zones of the Kurdistan Region as offering a permissive environment for PKK-affiliated structures.

As the ban extends into 2026, it represents not just a standalone punitive measure but a significant point of friction in the new post-conflict landscape. The resolution of this long-running issue will likely serve as a key test of the depth and sustainability of the new era of peace, and whether the spirit of reconciliation being forged in Ankara can overcome the decades of accumulated mistrust that continue to impact relations with Sulaimani.