ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Nechirvan Barzani on Tuesday renewed calls to continue the unification of the Peshmerga forces, saying that the forces want to serve the Region, instead of being linked to political parties.
The president attended the inauguration ceremony of two Peshmerga infantry divisions, consisting of over 20,000 members. The newly appointed Peshmerga will be divided over four brigades and an office per division and will assume their roles starting from Tuesday.
President Barzani delivered a speech during the ceremony, highlighting the importance of consolidating the Peshmerga and organizing the forces under a single, unified banner, removed from political party affiliations.
“We will do everything within our powers to strengthen the Peshmerga forces and all its military capabilities,” said Barzani, adding that “The inauguration of these two divisions is part of the organization and unification of the Peshmerga in a modern structure."
“They [Peshmerga] do not want the organization and unification process to stop, as they do not want to be linked to a political or party name. They want to be Peshmerga of Kurdistan, not Peshmerga of parties," he added.
While delivering a speech to the graduating class of Zakho Military College in May of last year, President Barzani pointed out that there was only one Christian graduate among 502 other Peshmerga officers, encouraging other minorities, such as Yazidis and Turkmen, to enlist in the force.
Barzani said on Tuesday that he was “glad” to see more Christian, Yazidi, and Arab Peshmerga officers among the two new divisions, but stressed that more facilitation needs to be made for minorities of the Kurdistan Region joining the armed forces, as the Peshmerga is for all people of the Region regardless of religious or ethnic background.
The president also mentioned that two joint-brigades have been formed with the Iraqi army in the disputed areas, and that they have been allocated a share in the Iraqi federal budget for 2023.
On Saturday, Iraq’s Deputy Finance Minister, Masoud Haider, told Rudaw that the 2023 budget bill includes funds to establish the said joint brigades, adding that when the budget bill is passed, Peshmerga will legally be a part of Iraq’s defence and security system.
Although the Peshmerga forces are under the authority of the Peshmerga ministry, the force’s two largest units are divided among the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Kurdistan’s Democratic Party (KDP).
Unit 70 forces are affiliated with the PUK and Unit 80 forces are controlled by the KDP, making up the majority of the Peshmerga forces, amounting to over 100,000 troops.
Over the past few years, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has put the unification of the Peshmerga forces on its agenda, and while reasonable steps have been taken towards unification and a number of brigades controlled by the PUK and the KDP have been added to the ministry, many remain to do so.
