ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — With Iraq in an election year, not only are alliances being formed and broken among Iraq's Shiite political leaders in the south, but in the north minority groups like the Shabaks are actively seeking alliances with larger parties. Ghazwan Dawoodi, the only Shabak member of the 39-person Nineveh Provincial Council, has formed the Shabak Freedom Front and is seeking an alliance with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) ahead of Iraq’s provincial and parliamentary elections. "We will run for both Iraqi elections," Dawoodi, who is a lawyer by profession from a village near Bashiqa, told Rudaw English. The Front was formed on December 30, 2017. Dawoodi, 38, was elected as its leader after a congress attended by about 300 Shabaks in Sheikhan. It is a registered party with the Iraqi government. The former member of the Shabak Liberation Council elaborated on the choice facing many in the diverse Kurdistani or disputed areas which came under full control of Iraqi forces supported by Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitaries in October 2017. "There must be official forces, not Hashd al-Shaabi because the presence of ISF [Iraqi Security Forces] and official forces is a good thing for us," said Dawoodi. Dawoodi believes a greater international presence in the Kurdistani areas would help the situation, but "very few" are there now. Christians, Yezidis, Kakei and other ethno-religious minorities have been recruited to join the Shiite Hashd, whose leaders have close relationships with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. "Many people have joined," explained Dawoodi about Hashd recruitment in Nineveh. "They are around 2,000. But there are also 2,000 Shabaks in the Peshmerga." While "Hashd has invaded the area and run the government," the former head of local Nineveh human rights council also believes Erbil deserves some blame. "There is also fault from the KRG," said Dawoodi. "For example, if I were a displaced person in the KRG, and returned to my area, I am not allowed in the KRG once again, even as a visitor. Therefore, people joined Hashd." Despite Dawoodi's disappointment with Erbil, the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party in the Kurdistan Region is still willing to ally with the Shabak Freedom Front for elections. "We believe that it is better in disputed territories for all [Kurdish] political parties go into the provincial and parliamentary elections of Iraq as one party," Khasraw Goran, the head of KDP's election office, told Rudaw English. KDP itself has stated that it will boycott the Iraqi elections in many disputed areas such as Kirkuk since it considers such lands to be occupied by the Iraqi forces. The decision does not include Mosul city, though it affects for example the Yezidi town of Shingal, west of Mosul. Goran confirmed the alliance ahead of the elections. "Yes we have been contacted..." explained Goran.” They have been allied with us since 2005 in the provincial council and the Iraqi parliament." While there have been Shiite Shabak MPs allied with the KDP in the Iraqi parliament, Goran is also concerned about Hashd al-Shaabi's influence on Iraq and Kurdistan's minority groups. "Hashd al-Shaabi has created brigades for every minority," said Goran. "Hanin Qado leads the Shabak Hashd. They have created Hashd for Yezidis, Christians, Turkmen, and so on. They tried to form a Kakei Hashd brigade. If they could, they would have formed a brigade even for the Kurds." However, Goran sees the maneuvers by Hashd as politically motivated. "This is for the sake of bolstering their popularity, to brush off the accusations that they are a Shiite sectarian force. This is to mislead people," he said. Goran, whose party strongly supported the 'Yes' for independence referendum in September 2017 that included the disputed areas, believes the best solution for Kurdistani people outside of the KRG administration isn't by imposition, but through self-determination. "The Shabak will itself decide its future. Deciding their fate on their own cannot happen through misleading, propaganda, brainwashing and terrorizing them like Hashd does. Hashd has to retreat from these areas. The situation has to be normalized," he said. Shabak Kurds now live mostly in and around Mosul and they were subject to ISIS atrocities in 2014 because of their unique religious faith and rituals. Most Shabaks identify as Shiite, while others regard themselves as Sunni. As some trace their roots back to what is now the border region between Iranian Kurdistan and the Kurdistan, they speak the Kurdish dialect of Gorani. Some also speak the Kurmanji dialect, given their current location in Nineveh.
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