Turkey extends ban on Slemani Airport

Director of the Slemani International Airport, Tahir Abdulla, said that Turkish authorities had extended the air blockade despite efforts by Kurdish officials to lift the ban, which will continue through March 24, NRT reported.
Turkey closed its airspace to flights to and from the Kurdistan Region’s airports in October 2017 in response to the previous month's independence referendum.
The Turkish government reauthorized air traffic with Erbil in March, but refused to do so for Slemani.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in March that Turkey was concerned about “direct coordination” between the locally-dominant Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Authorities in Slemani, however, have rejected those claims.
In September, Turkey extended the ban for another three months.
Last month, the Asayish (security) forces affiliated with the PUK shut down all the offices of the Kurdistan Free Society Movement (Tavgari Azadi) in the province of Sulaimani.
The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Executive Council said that the decision to close the offices was made under pressure from the Turkish government.
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