Unity between the Kurdish parties is essential for the future of the
disputed areas, says Nasreddin Saeed, the minister heading the General
Board for Kurdistani Areas Outside the Kurdistan Region. These are
generally known as the disputed areas that both the Kurds and Baghdad
claim.
Saeed warns that Sinjar, the disputed Iraqi province that was for the
most part liberated from the Islamic group ISIS in December, could fall
apart.
Sinjar (or Shingal) was until the occupation by ISIS in August 2014
administrated mainly by Baghdad. Here ISIS murdered almost 2,000 members
of the Yezidi population and kidnapped over 6,000 when it overran the
area.
After the liberation, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has put in
its own local government and police, but forces that were involved in
the liberation have not yet left. Amongst them are not only Peshmerga
troops of the main Iraqi Kurdish parties KDP and PUK, but also fighters
of the Turkish Kurdish PKK and some Yezidi militias.
Saeed sees this as a major obstacle why Yezidis are hardly returning
home to Sinjar – whilst in a comparable situation in Ramadi inhabitants
have -- stressing that “after liberating the place, the forces should go
and leave it to the people. Because of them, people are afraid of a new
conflict.”
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