MESOP : A QUITE NEW YEZIDI GOVERNORATE INTEGRATED TO KRG

Barzani Meets with Yazidis and promise KRG Support Will Continue / Kurdish Yazidis asks Barzani to make Sinjar newest Province

Basnews – 24.04.2015 15:02 – ERBIL – In a meeting with the Iraqi Kurdistan President in April 24th, people from Sinjar, northern Iraq, whose areas are currently under Islamic State (IS) control, have asked for Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani to liberate and establish a new governorate in Sinjar. Qassim Smier, the commander of Yazidi Peshmerga forces on Sinjar mountain confirmed to BasNews that “President Barzani has met with the people of Sinjar on 24th of April to discuss the current situation and latest advances of Peshmerga in those areas against IS militants”.

BasNews has learned that one day prior to the meeting, on 23rd of April, President Barzani has had a similar meeting for the same purpose with the local representatives of Shabaks, the ethno-religious group live in Sinjar and Tal Afar districts with Yazidis in Mosul province. In the meeting Barzani told the Shabaks that “Kurdistan region will do everything possible to liberate their areas from IS militia and help residents return to their own homes”. He also added “The young Shabaks should also be part of the liberation process by co-operating with the Peshmerga forces to keep their areas safe from IS terror group as we would love to help anyone who are willing to serve the stability of the region under the supervision of KRG’s Ministry of Peshmerga (MoP), on the contrary we will not allow anyone to independently create groups of armed men out of MoP”.

In addition the president stated, “The best choice for Shabaks is to return to their own homes in Tal Afar area with fully supported by Kurdistan regional government”. On the other side, Mahma Khalid, the Kurdish Yazidi figure who is also a commander of Peshmerga forces in Sinjar revealed that “during their meeting with president Barzani the Yazidis proposed Sinjar to become a new governorate of which Barzani responded positively and promised to work on this case with all the people from these areas”