Fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, began crossing into self-governed Kurdish areas in northern Iraq on May 8 under an agreement with the Turkish government meant to end three decades of bloodshed.
With the pullout in motion, the Iraqi cabinet voted on Tuesday to ask the Security Council to adopt a “suitable resolution to prevent any violation of Iraq’s sovereignty,” according to a statement from the government.
The cabinet also plans to notify Turkey that Iraq objects to the entry of PKK militants without permission from authorities in Baghdad, according to the statement.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged safe exit for about 2,000 militants operating in his country’s eastern and southern regions. The PKK, which has between 3,000 and 5,000 militants inside Turkey and in the autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq, rejected his call to lay down their weapons during the withdrawal.
The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region in southeastern Turkey since the 1980s. The conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead on both sides.