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Aboul Gheit: Assad Can Attend Upcoming Arab League Summit if He Wishes

Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit reacts next to Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters, to discuss the Syrian situation and Sudan crisis, in Cairo, Egypt May 7, 2023. (Reuters)
Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit reacts next to Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters, to discuss the Syrian situation and Sudan crisis, in Cairo, Egypt May 7, 2023. (Reuters)
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Aboul Gheit: Assad Can Attend Upcoming Arab League Summit if He Wishes

Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit reacts next to Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters, to discuss the Syrian situation and Sudan crisis, in Cairo, Egypt May 7, 2023. (Reuters)
Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit reacts next to Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters, to discuss the Syrian situation and Sudan crisis, in Cairo, Egypt May 7, 2023. (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Sunday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may attend the upcoming League summit in Saudi Arabia "if he wishes."

"When the invitation is sent by the host country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and if he wishes to participate, he will participate," he added.

The 32nd summit is set for May 19.

"Syria has the right to take part in all of the meetings," Aboul Gheit told a press conference in Cairo hours after an Arab League meeting that reinstated the country’s membership in the organization.

The decision said Syria could resume its participation in Arab League meetings immediately, while calling for a resolution of the crisis resulting from Syria's civil war, including the flight of refugees to neighboring countries and drug smuggling across the region.

"The reinstatement of Syria does not mean normalization of relations between Arab countries and Syria," Aboul Gheit said. "This is a sovereign decision for each country to make."

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Iraq Bans Kurdish PKK and Strengthens Its Cooperation with Türkiye

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, right, and Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend a meeting to sign mutual agreements in Baghdad, on April 22, 2024. (AP)
Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, right, and Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend a meeting to sign mutual agreements in Baghdad, on April 22, 2024. (AP)
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Iraq Bans Kurdish PKK and Strengthens Its Cooperation with Türkiye

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, right, and Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend a meeting to sign mutual agreements in Baghdad, on April 22, 2024. (AP)
Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, right, and Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend a meeting to sign mutual agreements in Baghdad, on April 22, 2024. (AP)

The Iraqi government announced Tuesday an official ban on a Kurdish separatist group which has been engaged in in a long-running conflict with Türkiye.

Türkiye has been seeking greater cooperation from Baghdad in its fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a Kurdish separatist group that has waged an insurgency against Türkiye since the 1980s and is banned there.

The order issued July 14 and published Tuesday by the Department of Administrative Affairs at the Iraqi Parliament said Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had issued instructions for the PKK to be described as the “banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party” in all official correspondence. It was the clearest statement from the Iraqi government on the group’s status to date.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Iraq in April for the first time in more than a decade. At the time, Erdogan said he and Sudani had “consulted on the joint steps we can take against the PKK terrorist organization and its extensions, which target Türkiye from Iraqi territory.”

Iraq has not followed Türkiye’s lead in designating the PKK a terrorist group but has put it on its list of banned organizations.

The PKK has maintained bases in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region. In recent months, Türkiye has built up its troops in northern Iraq and has threatened an offensive to clear PKK forces from the border area.

Türkiye often launches strikes against targets in Syria and Iraq that it believes to be affiliated with the PKK. Baghdad has complained that the strikes are a breach of its sovereignty, but earlier this year, the two governments issued a joint statement saying that the “PKK organization represents a security threat to both Türkiye and Iraq.”

The Turkish defense ministry said Tuesday that four suspected PKK militants were killed in an air offensive in northern Iraq, including one who was allegedly on a list of militants most wanted by Türkiye.

The ministry identified the man as Yusuf Kalkan and said he was wanted for membership in a terror organization as well as for founding and directing a terror group.