The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) made a statement and said that the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) occupied Hewlêr (Erbil) with the support of the Baath regime and Turkey.

The PUK statement on Tuesday said; "The KDP occupied Hewlêr with the Baath regime’s tanks and cannons and continued this occupation a year later with the participation of Turkish soldiers. All the people of Kurdistan know that the KDP has turned Hewlêr and Duhok into an open prison for those who demand freedom and plundered all the resources of Kurdistan.

We will take back Hewlêr, but not with the tanks and cannons of the occupiers, but with the will of the people of Hewlêr and the law."