Joint PUK-KDP delegation to visit site of border clash

ERBI, Kurdistan Region – A delegation comprised of members of the two ruling parties of the Kurdistan region will reportedly visit the site of a border clash between rival Kurdish parties in the remote Qandil Mountains.

A source from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) forces in Qandil mount told Rudaw on condition of anonymity that members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) are expected to meet the two parties involved in the dispute, but not time for the meeting was provided.   

“They will meet the KDPI first and then they will also visit PKK officials to work out the problems,” said the source, adding that the delegation has full authority to decide on the issue.

The Kurdistan Region’s parliament released a statement on Sunday and warned the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and PKK to immediately stop fighting. A clash between the two groups on Sunday led to the death of a KDPI fighter. 

“It is a crime for a nation to use violence against its own,” said the Sunday statement. “This kind of incident is a flashback to the darkest pages of Kurdistan’s history and the Kurdish nation will not accept the recurrence of such events.”   

The statement also invited the two belligerents to settle their differences in the Kurdistan Region’s parliament.