“All political forces in the Kurdistan Region have to be united, especially at this time when there is the corona[virus] issue and an economic crisis in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq,” Barzani told a press conference in Erbil.
The Kurdistan Region has been on lockdown since early March to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The shutdown, together with the collapse of world oil prices, has sent Iraq and the Region’s economies into a tailspin.
Barzani’s comments follow a potentially explosive standoff between rival Peshmerga units affiliated with Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in a region of Erbil province called Zini Warte.
The two parties and their affiliated security forces dominate their own respective spheres of geographical and economic influence inside the Kurdistan Region – a remnant of the brutal civil war of the 1990s. They have since worked together to govern the autonomous Region.
What began as an operation to prevent people smugglers spreading COVID-19 quickly developed into a turf war between the rival party factions.
This was further complicated by the presence of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters, who occupy the mountainous areas spanning Erbil and Sulaimani provinces.
A unified Peshmerga unit was deployed in mid-March to establish a forward operating base in the Zini Warte area of Rawanduz to target the smugglers who were breaking the government’s lockdown measures.
The Peshmerga unit was composed of both KDP and PUK affiliates. Although it was under the command of a KDP officer, unified units are answerable to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry for Peshmerga Affairs – not party headquarters.
However, fearing the deployment was in fact a KDP land grab, the PUK deployed its own Peshmerga forces to secure the territory.
In early April they were joined by a PKK detachment, which also established a base nearby. However, this was quickly destroyed in a Turkish airstrike, which killed at least three fighters.
What followed was a game of chicken, as the rival forces called on one another to withdraw.
During Monday’s press conference, Barzani insisted the deployment of the KRG-affiliated Peshmerga to Zini Warte was only a “temporary” measure to protect the public from COVID-19.
“They will surely be withdrawn once they are no longer needed,” he said.
Barzani, who is deputy leader of the KDP, said his party will soon hold talks with the PUK leadership to resolve the latest confrontation – which is rarely far from the surface.
“I want to assure you that it is not a big, unresolvable problem and we are approaching resolution of the issue,” Barzani told reporters.
“We will have a meeting with the PUK politburo which is the main partner of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the Region’s cabinet.”
Regarding the PKK’s call for the withdrawal of the KRG-affiliated force, Barzani said the presence of the group, seen by Turkey as a terrorist organization, is not “legitimate”.
Asked by reporters whether the latest flare up in tensions between the KDP and PUK could result in a split into two administrations, Barzani replied: “In such a case there will not be two administrations, but none.”
New Iraqi cabinet
Iraqi PM-designate Kadhimi has already held talks with Iraq’s Shiite and Sunni parties. Kadhimi’s appointment has been welcomed by Kurdish political leader, with whom he set to meet “in the coming days,” Barzani said.
“We, political parties and ethnic and religious groups, will negotiate the voting [for Kadhimi’s cabinet] and the demands of Kurdistan Region with Mustafa al-Kadhimi in the coming days.”
Barzani added that he was assured by Kadhimi that Kurds will hold the same ministries as they do in the outgoing cabinet: the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Construction, Housing, Municipalities, and Public Works, and the Ministry of Finance.
“From what I have heard from Kadhimi, Kurdish ministries will be the same but we are not sure about the ministers,” he said.
‘Serious threat’ of ISIS
President Barzani told reporters that the factions also discussed the continuing threat of Islamic State (ISIS) to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, adding that he had recently assigned one of his deputies, Sheikh Jaafar Sheikh Mustafa, to a Peshmerga base on the border between Iraqi and Kurdistan Region government control to assess the situation.
Kurdish officials will talk with Baghdad and the US-led coalition to “find a mechanism which sees joint work to prevent the resurgence of Daesh,” Barzani said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
“Today, Daesh is a serious threat to the Kurdistan Region and the whole Iraq … Daesh is increasing its activities from Diyala to Makhmour and Mosul.”
The group seized swaths of Iraqi and Syrian land in 2014, but was territorially defeated in late 2017 by Iraqi forces. It continues to carry out attacks, kidnappings and bombings, especially in areas disputed by Erbil and Baghdad.
