PKK Must Exit Northern Iraq’s Sinjar, Respect Kurdistan Regional Gov't

The government in Iraq’s Kurdistan region hopes the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, will accept that it needs to withdraw fighters from the contested Sinjar area, the chancellor of the regional Security Council, Masrour Barzani, said Thursday in Washington, DC.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Sinjar was liberated from the Daesh terror group by Kurdish-led forces in November 2015. Kurds have already established a military base in the region.

“The presence of PKK has complicated the situation and we hope that they will eventually come to terms and accept that they need to return to their own places and leave Sinjar,” Barzani stated during a panel discussion at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

He asserted that the PKK can’t impose itself on the territory and must respect the Kurdistan Regional Government’s effort to formally establish Sinjar as a province for people already living there.

“This is not a territory where they can establish their rule; they have to respect what the KRG needs to do in that area,” Barzani told the audience. “It’s up to the people of Sinjar to actually run and govern their own areas.”

Turkey is concerned about the Kurdish presence in Sinjar, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan having said Ankara would prevent Sinjar from becoming a “second Qandil,” referring to an area of northern Iraq in which PKK militants are active.

The Turkish government has designated the PKK a terrorist organization.