The President General of the Kurdistan Islamic Party (PIK) called on the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to prevent another Kurdish-Kurdish war in a reference to a 1990s war between the KDP and the Patriotic union of Kurdistan (PUK), two ruling parties in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
"We call on all Kurdish movements and organizations to prevent the possibility of a fratricidal war between the PKK and the KDP," Hikmat Sarbiland told KurdPress in an interview.
Referring to the escalation of disputes and tensions between the PKK and the KDP, Mr. Sarbiland, said: "The differences between the two sides are very large and the two sides are not just the ones to be blamed in this situation; but there are some countries which want to ignite civil war and fratricidal war as a strategy between the two Kurdish parties, and especially the aggressor Turkish government which has pursued a very dirty policy against the Kurds and does not want the Kurdistan Region to be seen as a model for the Kurds, and for this reason, it is invading the Iraqi Kurdistan region under the pretext of the existence of the PKK. Thus it poses many military, human and environmental dangers in the region. Meanwhile the absence of a unity-making strategy is a great loss for the Kurds.
He continued: "Political differences between parties are a natural issue, but we, as the Islamic Party of Kurdistan, believe that the Kurds should never commit civil wars and fratricide. For us, civil war and fratricide is a red line and all Kurds must react against this issue. We have asked all Kurdish movements and also ask these two parties not to enter a war and not to use the language of enmity and hatred against each other and to start dialogue to form a delegation and therefore stop the media war and prevent any possible civil war and fratricide.”
"This responsibility is on the shoulders of the officials of the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Democratic Party of Kurdistan to take right positions against any conflict and to resolve the problems through dialogue," Mr. Sarbiland further noted.
The President General of the PIK said the management of these disputes is outside the will of the Kurds, and stressed that: "The fact is that a large part of this dispute is outside the will of the Kurds and the presence enemies of the Kurdish people can be felt in it. Other countries, the Turkish government in particular, want the differences among the Kurds to increase in order to seize the territory of the Kurdistan Region. Turkey is seeking to occupy the territory of the Kurdistan Region by all means under the pretext of the PKK presence in the region.”
Hekmat Sarbiland stated: "This excuse of Turkey is a lie, but this is Turkey's long-term strategy to occupy a part of Iraq and Syria and destroy the achievements of the Kurds. Turkey's existence is tied to the absence of the other, the Kurds. So the disputes between the PKK and the KDP are not only differences between them, but it is Turkey that makes the most of this issue.
He noted: "We call on both sides to stop their disputes so that the fratricidal war does not happen again in Kurdistan and that the problems between the two sides is resolved through dialogue."
"On the other hand, the world powers that are present in the region do not agree with the war between the two sides, but they also have interests in the region that the war between the two endangers them," the president General of the PIK emphasized in the interview.
He ultimately sad: "We call on all Kurdish movements and organizations to prevent a fratricidal war between the two sides. The Kurds should be careful not to find themselves in the game of Kurdish enemies again. The Kurds have suffered a lot because this game and should deal with it wisely."
It is worth mentioning that the former president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Masoud Barzani, called on the PKK on Monday, November 3, 2020, to leave the region to prevent further escalation with Turkey, Kurdistan24 reported.
Barzani warned of the repercussions of the ongoing conflict between Turkey and PKK fighters on the borders of Kurdistan.
"In these crises facing the region, it is necessary for all Kurds to share responsibility to end the tensions." Barzani said in a statement.
He continued, “we are proud if inhibiting the Kurd-Kurd fighting for decades, but this should not be used to use force and illegal arms by PKK."
"Instead of supporting the heroic combat of Peshmerga against ISIS, PKK fighters have seized the liberated areas and styled themselves as the regional government, preventing citizens from rebuilding their villages." He pointed-out.
Barzani said, "PKK must return the seized areas to the legal authority of the region, and they must withdraw from all the areas they occupied forcibly."
Reporter’s code: 50101