ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Peshmerga commander views the move of uniting the Kurdish forces and releasing them from the grip of political parties favorably, he said on Sunday amid efforts to resolve disputes between the Kurdistan Region’s political parties.
The Peshmerga forces in the Region are all under the authority of the Peshmerga ministry de jure, but the force’s two largest units are divided among the ruling parties.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has in the past few years had the unification of the Peshmerga forces as part of its agenda, and efforts being taken by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) toward unification have added numerous brigades controlled by the two parties into the Peshmerga ministry, but many remain to do so.
"We should be one force. This isn't a problem that can be fixed overnight ... but we have progressed and held meetings [to solve the issue]," commander of the PUK affiliated Unit 70 Peshmerga force Mustafa Chawrash told Rudaw's Sima Abxizir on Sunday.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani arrived in Sulaimani on Sunday in an attempt to resolve political disputes between the Region's various political parties, mainly the PDK and PUK.
President Barzani also attended a graduation ceremony of Peshmerga officers in Qalachwalan Military Academy where he delivered a speech calling for an end to party influence on Peshmerga forces.
“It is true that legally, the Kurdistan Region Presidency has the duty of commander-in-chief to the Peshmerga forces, but in order for reform and for the unification of Peshmerga forces to be implemented, the KDP and PUK need to make a decision with trust and without regrets to eliminate party influence on Peshmerga,” he said.
Chawrash viewed the president's visit as a "glorious step," and hopes that his arrival "will open doors to solve issues that haven't been solved yet."
The commander said that Peshmerga unification efforts have already incorporated several brigades into the ministry, which “number 5,500 officers.”
Unit 70 forces are affiliated with the PUK and Unit 80 forces are controlled by the KDP, they make up the majority of the Peshmerga forces, numbering over 100,000 troops.
"Before anything happens, the political leadership should meet and resolve issues. For the Peshmerga this is very easy. It's very easy for all of us to agree that the Peshmerga should be unified but while the political leadership doesn't cooperate, don't blame it on the Peshmerga," Chawrash stated while noting that the Peshmerga will have no problems uniting if political disputes are resolved.
President said the inability to unify Peshmerga forces has led to every political disagreement in the Kurdistan Region to “directly affect security, people's mentality, markets, and trade.”
Touching on the joint brigades between the Iraqi army and Peshmerga, Chawrash said it is up to Iraq to activate the brigades and allow them to start operating.
The Peshmerga ministry has allocated the required troops to the brigades and held several meetings in Baghdad, he added while claiming that the federal government is placing obstacles to their materialization.
The Peshmerga ministry announced in July of last year they were working on the formation of two joint brigades of Iraqi and Peshmerga forces to counter Islamic State remnants in the disputed areas, cooperating in order to reduce the threat of the group’s resurgence.
Last month, a KRG representative for the Joint Operations Command told Rudaw that the names of the joint brigade troops have been sent to the finance ministry but their inaction is an issue of salary, which will only be distributed when Iraq forms its next government.
The KDP and PUK have taken opposing sides in the quest to form Iraq's next government, with the KDP joining forces in a tripartite alliance with the Sadrist bloc and the Sunni Sovereignty Alliance and the PUK allying with the Coordination Framework, a pro-Iran Shiite alliance.
Chawrash said he supports a united KDP-PUK stance in Baghdad while noting the Kurdistan Region's citizens' dissatisfaction with the tensions that arose between the two parties.
Issues between the two parties can be addressed by "creating a calm atmosphere and resolving the shortcomings."
President Barzani said ties between the KDP and PUK are “better than before” following his meeting with the latter's senior officials in Sulaimani on Sunday.
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