Canadian troops to continue wearing Kurdish flags
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Canada has decided that its military advisors in the Kurdistan Region will continue to wear the Kurdish flag patch on their uniforms.
Canada’s top general, Gen. Jonathan Vance, approved wearing the patches as an act of solidarity with the Kurdish region but noted that they should not be taken to mean that Canada supports an independent Kurdistan, reported CTV News.
Wearing the Kurdish flag "acts as an identification patch with our partner force, demonstrates solidarity with a region facing existential threats for which we are there to help, and is in keeping with previous methods used by Canada and allies when working with partner forces," Daniel Le Bouthillier, National Defence spokesperson, told CTV News in an email on Friday.
"The flag is in no way a symbol of Canadian support for political disunity in Iraq," he said.
In early June, Canadian military officials said they would review the policy after media reported that Canadian military advisors working with Kurdish Peshmerga forces were wearing the Kurdish flag on their uniforms.
At the same time, US special forces in Syria were under fire for wearing the patches of the Kurdish forces they were working with there, the Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ). The American soldiers were instructed by their commanders to remove the patches.
“We’ll have to re-examine that and we may well take them off too,” Mike Rouleau, commander of Canada’s forces in the Kurdistan Region, told CTV News in early June.
“Whether we have them on or off, it’s not going to change anything about the level of commitment and closeness that we have with the people who we’re sent there to support.”
Canadian forces in the Kurdistan Region have been wearing the Kurdish flag on their uniforms since they came to the region in 2014 to assist in the war against the Islamic State.
Wearing the Kurdish flag was considered controversial as the region is still a part of Iraq. Canadian leadership insist they are sensitive to the delicate relationship between the Kurdistan Region and Iraq and how Canada’s role in the region fits into that relationship.
"The Peshmerga are part of the Iraqi security forces, and every time I've met with the Kurdish leadership, they have stressed that themselves," Canada’s Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told the Canadian Press this week. "Every time we have sat down, they've actually had their own Kurdish flag at the table and an Iraqi flag as well. So this is something we are very sensitive to."
Canada is expanding the number of special forces it has in the region to 200; the decision to increase the training role was part of the election campaign pledge of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to pull Canada’s fighter jets from the skies over the area where they were participating in the US-led airstrike campaign.
Canada also plans to increase its humanitarian support in the region. At a meeting of members of the global anti-ISIS coalition in Washington earlier this week, Canada pledged $358 million to Iraq to help deal with the humanitarian crisis and will provide a field hospital deployed west of Erbil to care for injured in the operation to liberate Mosul.
Canada’s top general, Gen. Jonathan Vance, approved wearing the patches as an act of solidarity with the Kurdish region but noted that they should not be taken to mean that Canada supports an independent Kurdistan, reported CTV News.
Wearing the Kurdish flag "acts as an identification patch with our partner force, demonstrates solidarity with a region facing existential threats for which we are there to help, and is in keeping with previous methods used by Canada and allies when working with partner forces," Daniel Le Bouthillier, National Defence spokesperson, told CTV News in an email on Friday.
"The flag is in no way a symbol of Canadian support for political disunity in Iraq," he said.
In early June, Canadian military officials said they would review the policy after media reported that Canadian military advisors working with Kurdish Peshmerga forces were wearing the Kurdish flag on their uniforms.
At the same time, US special forces in Syria were under fire for wearing the patches of the Kurdish forces they were working with there, the Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ). The American soldiers were instructed by their commanders to remove the patches.
“We’ll have to re-examine that and we may well take them off too,” Mike Rouleau, commander of Canada’s forces in the Kurdistan Region, told CTV News in early June.
“Whether we have them on or off, it’s not going to change anything about the level of commitment and closeness that we have with the people who we’re sent there to support.”
Canadian forces in the Kurdistan Region have been wearing the Kurdish flag on their uniforms since they came to the region in 2014 to assist in the war against the Islamic State.
Wearing the Kurdish flag was considered controversial as the region is still a part of Iraq. Canadian leadership insist they are sensitive to the delicate relationship between the Kurdistan Region and Iraq and how Canada’s role in the region fits into that relationship.
"The Peshmerga are part of the Iraqi security forces, and every time I've met with the Kurdish leadership, they have stressed that themselves," Canada’s Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told the Canadian Press this week. "Every time we have sat down, they've actually had their own Kurdish flag at the table and an Iraqi flag as well. So this is something we are very sensitive to."
Canada is expanding the number of special forces it has in the region to 200; the decision to increase the training role was part of the election campaign pledge of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to pull Canada’s fighter jets from the skies over the area where they were participating in the US-led airstrike campaign.
Canada also plans to increase its humanitarian support in the region. At a meeting of members of the global anti-ISIS coalition in Washington earlier this week, Canada pledged $358 million to Iraq to help deal with the humanitarian crisis and will provide a field hospital deployed west of Erbil to care for injured in the operation to liberate Mosul.