Iraq
Fighters from the Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) train in Shingal in November 2020. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is expected maintain bases in the Yazidi heartland of Shingal (Sinjar) in western Nineveh province, despite announcing its dissolution and the end of its armed struggle against Turkey, according to a Peshmerga commander in Shingal.
“Although the PKK has decided to dissolve itself and disarm, they still remain in their bases and headquarters in Shingal,” Ezidikhan Protection Forces commander Haider Shasho, whose forces are a Yazidi division within the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga Ministry, told Rudaw on Monday.
Earlier in the day, the PKK announced its dissolution and the end of its armed struggle against the Turkish state, marking what it described as a step toward a peaceful resolution to the decades-long conflict with Ankara. The announcement followed a party congress held from May 5 to 7 to consider the late February call from jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan to disarm, dissolve the group, and pursue a political struggle.
In a statement, the congress declared that the PKK had “completed its historical mission” by “breaking the policy of denial and annihilation on our people and bringing the Kurdish issue to a point of solving it through democratic politics.”
“I don’t believe they will leave their bases so early,” Shasho added.
The Shingal Resistance Units (YBS), believed to be affiliated with the PKK, has remained in control of parts of the district since the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS) a decade ago. The numerous armed groups in the area have been identified as one of the sources of continued insecurity that has prevented the return of thousands of Shingal’s residents who fled ISIS in 2014. Baghdad and Erbil signed an agreement in 2020 to normalize the situation in Shingal, but the deal has yet to be implemented.
Turkey considers the YBS an offshoot of the PKK and has targeted its positions in Shingal numerous times, killing dozens of its members, including top commanders.
“In this period when the political situation is stable, Shingal’s security is stable, and there is no bombardment and fighting,” the Yazidi commander revealed.
The PKK was founded in 1978 in response to the oppression of the Kurdish population in Turkey. It initially struggled for an independent Kurdistan but now calls for greater political and cultural rights within Turkey. Ankara and its Western allies consider the group a terrorist organization.
Sirwan Abbas contributed to this report.
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