Iraqi parliament convenes to discuss Turkish threats on Shingal

March 27th, 2018

Awake Goy

nsnbc : The federal parliament of Iraq will convene Tuesday to discuss Turkish threats on Shingal. The parliamentary discussion comes in response to statements by Turkish top-government officials who said Turkey would launch military operations against “anti-Turkish Kurds” along the Iraq – Turkish border region including areas in Iraq.

Iranian commander Ali Qakarani (right) in civilian clothes accompanied by Iranian forces including some 30 or more bodyguards on October 18, 2017 in the Yazidi town of Sinjar, northwest Iraq.

Abdulaziz Hassan, a member of Patriotic Unionof Kurdistan (PUK) and of the parliament’s Defense and Security Committee, told the Rudaw news agency that “Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statements smell of blood, and the aim is not just Shingal, but all of the Mosul villayet.”

The Mosul villayet historically refers to the areas of northern Iraq and includes the Kurdistan Region, Nineveh governorate, and Kirkuk. The name evokes nationalist and Ottoman era feelings in Turkey.

Turkey has threatened military operation against alleged Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) positions in Shingal, even after the Kurdish group announced withdrawal of its forces and Iraqi forces were deployed to the area. Operations could also threaten Yazidi – Kurdish militia with links to the PKK and Syria’s YPG at Mount Shingal, such as the Shengal Women’s Units who participated in the liberation of Raqa, Syria, from the Islamic State.

Hassan told Rudaw that a letter will be presented in the session and discussions on it will take place. “In the letter, we ask the Iraqi government to adopt an official position concerning the threats and statements of Turkey, to know whether there is an agreement between Baghdad and Ankara,” Hassan explained. The parliament will also address other topics, such as the visit by Iraq’s Speaker of the Parliament Salim al-Jabouri and Kirkuk’s interim governor to Turkey. Hassan said they want to know why they visited Turkey.

“As the Kurdistani factions, we have asked Aram Shiekh Mahmood, the second deputy speaker to place the threats and Turkish military operations on the parliament’s agenda,” Hassan said.

Earlier this week PKK’s umbrella group KCK announced the withdrawal of PKK guerillas from the town of Shingal amid blistering threats by the Turkish president, who announced on Sunday that a military operation in Shingal had begun. The news was denied by the Turkish ambassador to Iraq. It must be noted that Mount Shingal is a region of extreme strategic, regional as well as geopolitical importance and that Iran and others have their eyes on what previously was known as Saddam Hussein’s prime real estate for the launch of SCUD missiles. It is also worth noting that Baghdad, Tehran and Ankara have “converging anti-Kurdish interests and policies” with regard to the presence of the PKK, the YPG, the Shingal Women’s Units and other Kurdish militia who are challenging the largely anti-Kurdish status quo in these three countries.

CH/L – nsnbc 27.03.2018