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Tension between PKK and KRG escalates due to strategic value of Sinjar
4/21/2015
Analysts have attributed the reason behind the recent exchange of warring words between the Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) over the status of the northern Iraqi city of Sinjar due the strategic value of the city for both parties.
Serhat Erkmen, a prominent Middle East analyst, told Today's Zaman that the tension between the PKK and the KRG has reached new heights because of the disagreement over Sinjar's status, which has strategic value for the KRG due to the fact that the city -- which falls inside the borders of Iraq's Mosul province -- has a high presence of Kurds, giving potential legitimacy to KRG control over Mosul.
Speaking to Today's Zaman on Tuesday, Aydın Maruf Selim, a Turkmen deputy in the KRG parliament, said that the PKK has sought control over the northern territories of the KRG since 1991 and found an opportunity to realize its goals when the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) attacked areas in the KRG like Sinjar and Kirkuk.
In a blistering statement, KRG President Masoud Barzani lashed out at the PKK -- which is based in northern Iraq's Kandil Mountains -- for meddling in the internal affairs of the region, accusing the terrorist group of provoking a civil war among Kurds. In a series of tit-for-tat accusations, Duran Kalkan, the military commander of the armed wing of the PKK, and KRG officials engaged in mutual recriminations, revealing the frosty relations between the PKK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the ruling party in the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq.
Kalkan called Barzani a “dictator,” stirring a swift rebuke from Barzani, who is also leader of the KDP.
Speaking to the PKK-affiliated Med Nuçe TV station in a televised interview last week, Kalkan said the PKK won't allow the establishment of a dictatorship in South Kurdistan [referring to the territory governed by the KRG]. "A dictatorship based in South Kurdistan can't survive. It shouldn't be said that South Kurdistan will be ruled only from Hewler [Arbil]. There must also be self-rule in Sinjar, Kirkuk, Germiyan, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah, " he said. Arbil is the capital of the KRG. "If this happens, Kirkuk also could join South Kurdistan," he added.
The PKK's open desire to take part in the administration of the Kurdish region has sparked fierce criticism from the KRG, with Barzani slamming the terrorist group as traitors to the Kurdish movement. Speaking to the Zaman daily on Tuesday, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, a deputy from Turkey's pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP), argued that the local assembly in Sinjar was formed by the locals' free will and without an imposition by PKK.
Önder maintained that PKK's suggestion to form a canton in Sinjar was made after the locals' decision to create a local assembly. “It is true that there is tension [between the PKK and the KRG] but I consider this tension as the last phase before a solution… The Kurdistan Communities Union [KCK -- an umbrella organization that encompasses the PKK] would not make endeavors that would destabilize the region [the KRG],” he said.
While the PKK enjoys self-rule within areas adjacent to the Kandil Mountains without interruption by the KRG security forces -- known as peshmerga -- the KRG is strictly opposed to the extension of the PKK's reach, especially after the two groups fought together against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in northern Iraq.
ISIL's advance deep into Sinjar district last summer, which led to the displacement of tens of thousands of locals, was stopped by an uneasy alliance between the KRG and the PKK, backed by air strikes carried out by an anti-ISIL international coalition.
In December of last year, the alliance broke the lines of ISIL in Sinjar after months of ferocious battles. Since then, the city and surrounding area have become a source of friction between the KRG and the PKK, which are jostling for power. The PKK aims to establish a canton in Sinjar similar to city administrations run by the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in northern Syria, while the KRG has appeared an ardent opponent of the idea of self-rule in the city.
“The PKK apparently saved people in Sinjar from falling under ISIL rule. Yet the group's main goal is to break Sinjar away from the KRG's rule and declare it the fourth canton under its rule, along with the three other cantons controlled by the PKK's Syrian branch [the PYD] in northern Syria,” Selim said.
The PKK's demand for a larger role in an area regarded by the KRG as its own territory has sparked uneasiness in Arbil, prompting Barzani to publicly challenge Kalkan. Barzani said the KRG will not allow for a dual structure in ruling the region, denouncing the PKK's attempts as provocative acts designed to unleash civil war and unrest among Kurds.
Barzani's KDP and the Turkish government in Ankara enjoy a close relationship and maintain a number of common policies against the PKK
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4/21/2015
Analysts have attributed the reason behind the recent exchange of warring words between the Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) over the status of the northern Iraqi city of Sinjar due the strategic value of the city for both parties.
Serhat Erkmen, a prominent Middle East analyst, told Today's Zaman that the tension between the PKK and the KRG has reached new heights because of the disagreement over Sinjar's status, which has strategic value for the KRG due to the fact that the city -- which falls inside the borders of Iraq's Mosul province -- has a high presence of Kurds, giving potential legitimacy to KRG control over Mosul.
Speaking to Today's Zaman on Tuesday, Aydın Maruf Selim, a Turkmen deputy in the KRG parliament, said that the PKK has sought control over the northern territories of the KRG since 1991 and found an opportunity to realize its goals when the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) attacked areas in the KRG like Sinjar and Kirkuk.
In a blistering statement, KRG President Masoud Barzani lashed out at the PKK -- which is based in northern Iraq's Kandil Mountains -- for meddling in the internal affairs of the region, accusing the terrorist group of provoking a civil war among Kurds. In a series of tit-for-tat accusations, Duran Kalkan, the military commander of the armed wing of the PKK, and KRG officials engaged in mutual recriminations, revealing the frosty relations between the PKK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the ruling party in the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq.
Kalkan called Barzani a “dictator,” stirring a swift rebuke from Barzani, who is also leader of the KDP.
Speaking to the PKK-affiliated Med Nuçe TV station in a televised interview last week, Kalkan said the PKK won't allow the establishment of a dictatorship in South Kurdistan [referring to the territory governed by the KRG]. "A dictatorship based in South Kurdistan can't survive. It shouldn't be said that South Kurdistan will be ruled only from Hewler [Arbil]. There must also be self-rule in Sinjar, Kirkuk, Germiyan, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah, " he said. Arbil is the capital of the KRG. "If this happens, Kirkuk also could join South Kurdistan," he added.
The PKK's open desire to take part in the administration of the Kurdish region has sparked fierce criticism from the KRG, with Barzani slamming the terrorist group as traitors to the Kurdish movement. Speaking to the Zaman daily on Tuesday, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, a deputy from Turkey's pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP), argued that the local assembly in Sinjar was formed by the locals' free will and without an imposition by PKK.
Önder maintained that PKK's suggestion to form a canton in Sinjar was made after the locals' decision to create a local assembly. “It is true that there is tension [between the PKK and the KRG] but I consider this tension as the last phase before a solution… The Kurdistan Communities Union [KCK -- an umbrella organization that encompasses the PKK] would not make endeavors that would destabilize the region [the KRG],” he said.
While the PKK enjoys self-rule within areas adjacent to the Kandil Mountains without interruption by the KRG security forces -- known as peshmerga -- the KRG is strictly opposed to the extension of the PKK's reach, especially after the two groups fought together against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in northern Iraq.
ISIL's advance deep into Sinjar district last summer, which led to the displacement of tens of thousands of locals, was stopped by an uneasy alliance between the KRG and the PKK, backed by air strikes carried out by an anti-ISIL international coalition.
In December of last year, the alliance broke the lines of ISIL in Sinjar after months of ferocious battles. Since then, the city and surrounding area have become a source of friction between the KRG and the PKK, which are jostling for power. The PKK aims to establish a canton in Sinjar similar to city administrations run by the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in northern Syria, while the KRG has appeared an ardent opponent of the idea of self-rule in the city.
“The PKK apparently saved people in Sinjar from falling under ISIL rule. Yet the group's main goal is to break Sinjar away from the KRG's rule and declare it the fourth canton under its rule, along with the three other cantons controlled by the PKK's Syrian branch [the PYD] in northern Syria,” Selim said.
The PKK's demand for a larger role in an area regarded by the KRG as its own territory has sparked uneasiness in Arbil, prompting Barzani to publicly challenge Kalkan. Barzani said the KRG will not allow for a dual structure in ruling the region, denouncing the PKK's attempts as provocative acts designed to unleash civil war and unrest among Kurds.
Barzani's KDP and the Turkish government in Ankara enjoy a close relationship and maintain a number of common policies against the PKK
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