Barzani was in Sulaimani to attend the graduation ceremony of 769 Peshmerga officers, including 48 women, from the Qalachwalan Military Academy. In a speech, he called on political parties to end their influence over the armed forces.
“In the Kurdistan Region, we strongly and deeply believe that our Kurdistan Peshmerga force must be a national, independent force, far from all political disputes and wrangling. This force should belong to Kurdistan and the nation,” said Barzani, who is also the commander-in-chief of the Region’s armed forces.
Although the Peshmerga forces nominally fall under the authority of the Peshmerga ministry, the two largest units are controlled by the two main political parties - the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
“The Peshmerga’s blood is integrated in every part of Kurdistan. Nobody asked which was green and which was yellow. They all gave equal sacrifices for Kurdistan,” Barzani said, referring to the “green” PUK-dominant provinces of Sulaimani and Halabja and the “yellow” KDP provinces of Erbil and Duhok.
Unit 70 forces are affiliated with the PUK and Unit 80 forces are controlled by the KDP. These two units make up the majority of the Peshmerga forces, amounting to over 100,000 troops.
Unification of the Peshmerga forces has been on the agenda of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for several years, and while some progress has been made and a number of brigades controlled by the PUK and the KDP have been added to the ministry, a lot of work remains to be done.
Peshmerga Minister Shoresh Ismail also called on the Kurdistan Region’s ruling parties to assist the ministry “in this national effort to unify the Kurdish Peshmerga forces.”
“This historical task is on our shoulders,” Ismail stressed.
Barzani thanked the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) for helping unification efforts, which he described as “slow, but there is good progress.”
“We would like to ensure the people of Kurdistan and our friends in the international coalition that we are serious and that we will not stop until we unite the Peshmerga,” he said.
While delivering a speech last month at the graduation ceremony of Zakho Military College, Barzani reassured allies and partners that there is a strong will to unify the Peshmerga.