KDP ‘attack’ on PKK ‘shameful’: SDF commander

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — General Mazloum Abdi, top commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) slammed a Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) “attack” on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)” as “shameful” in a Tuesday morning tweet.

“The attack by KDP forces on PKK guerillas in Amedi is shameful and hurts the achievements of the Kurdish cause,” Abdi wrote. “We call on these attacks to stop and encourage solving these problems through dialogue.” 

Renewed clashes between KDP Peshmerga forces and the PKK erupted on Sunday night in Duhok province’s Amedi district. One Peshmerga was killed after PKK fighters tried to “breach” a Peshmerga checkpoint, Rudaw was told.

PKK-affiliated Hawar News reported three injured in what they described as a Peshmerga “attack” on their fighters, with one dying the following day.

The British and US consulates both offered their condolences to the family of the killed Peshmerga member, with British Consul-General James Thornton adding "the PKK is a terrorist organisation that should not be present in the KRI."

Tensions have increased between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the PKK in recent months.

Clashes erupted between Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Peshmerga forces and PKK fighters in the Chamanke sub-district of Duhok on November 4, killing one Peshmerga and injuring two others. 

The PKK and the ruling KDP have been at odds for decades, mostly over control of land in the Kurdistan Region and the KDP's close links to Ankara, which the PKK has fought with for decades for increased rights for Turkey’s Kurdish minority. 

HIs comments come the day after Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani told US envoy to Syria  that the PKK have killed three Kurdish security personnel in recent months.

Barzani also claimed that the “PKK’s behaviour, including efforts to exploit peaceful protests, threatens regional stability.”

Abdi spoke to researchers from the International Crisis Group in mid-September for a report published in November, and acknowledged the sacrifices that thousands of PKK fighters have made in the area since 2011, but accepted that their presence is a headache for his administration.

Abidi fought against the Turkish state for over three decades as a PKK fighter. 

Abdi’s comments also follow comments from an official of the Autonomous Administration of North East Syria (NES) last week that the NES does not have strong ties with the KDP.

“We are in good talks with all the parties in Southern Kurdistan [Kurdistan Region], however with the KDP it is not the same,” the co-chair of the NES Foreign Relations Department Abdulkarim Omar said in an interview with the NES-affiliated ANHA News Agency, noting that the NES has representatives and “recognition” in Sulaimani, dominated by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), but not in Erbil.

He claimed that they hope the KRG “changes its position.. for the unity of all Kurds,” saying the Turkish occupation of areas of northern Syria, and the loss of Kirkuk to Iraqi federal forces in 2017 would not have happened if Kurdish powers were united.