DUSSELDORF, Germany – Germany is set to step up military support for Erbil, with its parliament expected to grant formal approval for 100 military trainers and advanced weapons for the Kurdistan Region, the German Der Spiegel weekly reported.
The German government officially voted in favor of an earlier plan to send military experts to the Kurdistan Region in December last year as part of Berlin’s commitment to supporting Peshmerga forces in the war against the Islamic State (ISIS).
Der Spiegel said that the German government has agreed to increase its military support for the Kurds in Iraq, but awaits a parliamentary authorization which will most likely be made in the coming week.
German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen has pushed the government for faster completion of the military delivery.
“We will be sending 100 officers and military experts to Erbil,” the minister said earlier in December, when the government gave its formal approval to deployment.
“We have had excellent relations with the Peshmerga forces. They are reliable and very much concerned, but they need guns and training,” she added.
German leftist parties, which hold 127 of 631 seats in the Bundestag, have been critical of sending more weapons to Kurdistan, supporting more humanitarian aid instead.
“I cannot believe that the government plans to send more guns while refugees there are in desperate need for help in the freezing cold,” said Jan van Aken, a lawmaker for the Left Party.
The MP fears that support for Kurds could destabilize Iraq and disintegrate it further.
“Arming Kurds in Iraq can very well result in the disintegration of the country,” he said. “It could jeopardize its security.”
But the parliament will likely give the go-ahead to military support despite leftist objections, as Europe struggles to deal with the threat of returning jihadis from Iraqi and Syrian battlefields.
According to Der Spiegel, Kurdish leaders in Erbil have asked Berlin to supply the Peshmerga with advanced weaponry and combat training, but no further details have been revealed.
The military experts going to Kurdistan will be training Kurdish forces for combat and defusing sophisticated landmines.
If approved, the military coaches will enjoy legal immunity while in Iraq and travel under diplomatic cover.
