ERBIL, Iraq
The president of Iraq’s Kurdish region on Monday condemned deadly clashes between Turkish and Iranian Kurds on the Iraq-Iran border.
On Sunday, at least two peshmerga from the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) were killed in fighting with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
In a statement, President Masoud Barzani decried such clashes as “suicide” for Kurds.
"I have already said clashes among Kurds, which deteriorate the peace of Kurdistan’s people and weaken their hopes for the future, should be forbidden," he added.
The KDPI, which has fought for Kurdish rights in Iran for decades, and the PKK clashed after the latter ordered the Iranian group to leave the area around the villages of Kelashin, Khenela and Saqar.
The PKK has fought an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, resulting in the loss of more than 44,000 lives. The group is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.
