MESOP NEWS : PKK STOPS DEVELOPMENT FOR SINJAR

US Unable to Support Sinjar Due to PKK’s Presence: Yezidi MP –  US has a project to help reconstruct the district of Sinjar

  Basnews English – 19/12/2016 – 17:48   |  Kurdistan –  ERBIL — The US has agreed to support a plan for reconstructing the district of Sinjar, but Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) forces in the district are the barrier to the implementation of the plan, said a Yezidi official on Monday.

Sheikh Shamo, a Yezidi MP in the Kurdistan Region parliament, told BasNews that the US is aware of the danger PKK is posing to the Yezidi district and has already demanded the forces to vacate the area.

Shamo revealed that the US has laid a project to support Sinjar, noting that the US officials have stated that they are unable to deliver the project due to PKK’s presence and the unrest they have created in the area. The official called on the PKK forces to leave Sinjar, arguing that the reconstruction of the district is unlikely to happen as long as they stay.

Sinjar officials have repeatedly stated that PKK is posing danger to the area as they neither recognize the official administration of the district nor allow the reconstruction of the area and they have occupied a number of public administration buildings and set up checkpoints. Despite frequent calls for their withdrawal by the officials and people of Sinjar, PKK refuses to vacate the area and has created intense fear among the population of the town since they are recruiting their children. For the same reason, the IDPs are unwilling to return to their areas.Previously in October, a source from the Iraqi Ministry of Defense revealed that Baghdad is continuing to pay the salaries of the PKK guerrillas who are providing military training to the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ), a PKK affiliated armed group.