Barzani calls on 'relevant parties' to bring Shingal situation 'under control'
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdish President Masoud Barzani has given “relevant parties” and the Peshmerga ministry instructions regarding Friday clashes that erupted between the Rojava Peshmerga and the Shingal Protection Units (YBS) resulting in a number of casualties in Shingal, a spokesperson for the Kurdish president said in a statement, adding that the instructions are intended “to bring the situation under control.”
The statement said that President Barzani is “saddened” by the unfolding events in Shingal, warning that “only” the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) institutions have the right to administer the areas in Kurdistan Region.
Shingal, a mainly Yezidi area, is located in the so-called disputed areas claimed both by Erbil and Baghdad. It is not officially within Kurdistan Region, but the Kurdish government has run the area for about a decade, eventually becoming the de facto authority in the area.
‘[President Barzani] has given necessary directives to relevant parties and the Ministry of Peshmerga to bring the situation under control and prevent it from escalation,” the statement said.
A 24-hour ceasefire was reached late Friday after meetings between the leadership of both sides. The meetings are to continue on Saturday, Hemin Hawrami, adviser to Barzani, tweeted on Friday.
“All parties should know that only the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) institutions are responsible for the administration of the Kurdistan Region,” the Kurdish presidency warned.
The YBS and the PKK’s umbrella organization, the Group of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK), have said in separate statements that they believe the events come after President Barzani’s recent visit to Turkey where he held meetings with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
The issue of security was among the topics discussed in Barzani’s meetings with the Turkish side in late February, meetings that were described as “very good” and satisfactory by the Kurdish president.
ISIS captured Shingal on August 3, 2014, committing genocide against the Yezidi population. The town was liberated in November 2015 by a coalition of Kurdish forces, including KRG Peshmerga and PKK fighters. The PKK has maintained a presence in the area, refusing calls from KRG to leave.
“No party is entitled to meddle in the affairs of the Kurdistan Region or prevent the movements of the Peshmerga forces,” the statement from the Kurdish presidency said, echoing an earlier statement from the Peshmerga ministry that they do not seek authorization from anyone during force changeover, or deployments within the borders of Kurdistan Region.
President Barzani is also the commander-in-chief of the KRG armed forces.
Claiming that the Rojava Peshmerga are trained and financed by Turkey, the YBS stated that they are not opposed to Peshmerga of the Kurdistan Region entering Shingal but the Yezidi people reject “occupying forces” on their territory.
Rojava Peshmerga, also known as Roj force, are formally part of the KRG’s Peshmerga forces. The 5,000-strong force consists of Kurds from northern Syria. They are trained and financed by the Kurdistan Region, as part of the Zeravani forces, and receive their orders from President Barzani. Sharvan Derki, a spokesperson of the force, told Rudaw English that they have also received training from the US-led international coalition against ISIS.
On Thursday, Derki told Rudaw that a regiment of 500 had been deployed to the KRG-Syria border area.
Seven fighters of the YBS, and its female counterpart YJS were killed in clashes with Rojava Peshmerga on Friday near Khanasoor, in the Shingal region; two of them were from the armed wing of the PKK.
Both sides accuse one another of initiating the clashes that brought fear to the Yezidi areas, forcing some to leave their homes into safer areas on mount Shingal or elsewhere in the Kurdistan Region.