PUK Wants Peshmerga To Be Greater Than Party

Kurdistan 12:37 PM - 2023-06-17

A Peshmerga, Kurdistan flag, and PUK logo.

The Peshmerga Committee of the Kurdistan Parliament has met more than seventy times in an attempt to bring the Peshmerga forces together and assist them. However, they have been unable to do so due to the obstruction from one party. 

During a meeting with a British military delegation, Bafel Jalal Talabani, President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), said, "The PUK is committed to all past agreements and understandings reached to unite the Peshmerga forces. We do not want these understandings to be misguided and this national issue to fall prey to partisan interests." 

 

One side does not want the Peshmerga Forces to Unite

 

Osman Sedari, a member of the Peshmerga Committee in the Kurdistan Parliament, told PUKMEDIA: "Our committee in the Kurdistan Parliament has held more than seventy internal meetings and dozens of meetings with the Peshmerga forces, allies, and the Iraqi army, but our efforts did not work because one side wants to keep the Peshmerga forces from uniting and continue using them as a force to solve problems in its own interests."

"There are also attempts to create problems for the joint forces supported by the allies, which are for personal and party purposes, and they want to keep the Peshmerga forces as a party militia force," he said.
"The distrust among the Kurdish parties has not only affected the unification of the Peshmerga forces but has also harmed Kurdish unity in Baghdad," he added.

The PUK's goal is to unite the Peshmerga Forces

The PUK military leaders are continually attempting to unite the Peshmerga forces and transform them into a national force that protects the interests of the citizens of the Kurdistan Region, as opposed to a tool for the party or personal gain.

Veteran Peshmerga Mala Ari said to PUKMEDIA: "The efforts of President Bafel within the party and Qubad Talabani within the government, as well as their meetings with allies and military delegations, prove that the PUK's goal is for the Peshmerga to be a national force."

“At the level of military commanders, the PUK has made great efforts to unite the Peshmerga forces, and we believe that we can protect the territory and serve the people of the Kurdistan Region with a national force,” he continued. "However, one party does not have that intention and wants to use the force they have as a militia force for their own party and personal interests.” 



PUKMEDIA