Kurdistan PM-Designate talks reform, training of Peshmerga in meeting with US military official

Both sides “agreed on the importance of reforms for the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs.”

Kurdistan PM-Designate talks reform, training of Peshmerga in meeting with US military official

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Prime Minister-Designate of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Masrour Barzani, on Wednesday met with the Chief of the US Office of Security Cooperation – Iraq (OSC-I), Brig. Gen. Gregory Kreuder.

Unifying the two main Peshmerga forces, along with US aid to and training of those troops, led the discussions in Erbil between Barzani and Kreuder.

Both sides “agreed on the importance of reforms for the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs,” while Barzani urged the OSC-I Chief to “continue US stipends and military aid and training to Peshmerga Forces,” read a statement from the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC), of which Barzani is also currently the chancellor.

The Prime Minister-Designate of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Masrour Barzani in a meeting with the Chief of the US Office of Security Cooperation – Iraq (OSC-I), Brig. Gen. Gregory Kreuder, June 19, 2019. (Photo: KRSC)
The Prime Minister-Designate of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Masrour Barzani in a meeting with the Chief of the US Office of Security Cooperation – Iraq (OSC-I), Brig. Gen. Gregory Kreuder, June 19, 2019. (Photo: KRSC)

On Tuesday, Kreuder participated in a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs (MoPE) on the issue of Peshmerga reform. That meeting was attended by top US and British diplomats in Erbil—US Consul General Steven Fagin and UK Consul General Martyn Warr—along with representatives of other members of the Global Coalition against the Islamic State.

The US, UK, and Germany, which are leading members of that coalition, formally known as Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), have prepared a reform project for the Peshmerga Ministry.

Read more: Coalition works with Peshmerga Ministry for reform and unity of Peshmerga forces

For its part, the Ministry has established a Reform Board, which is working to implement a roadmap for change. That roadmap includes 31 different projects that would consolidate the Peshmerga into a more efficient and effective national defense force.

A key objective of the reforms is to move beyond the current division of Peshmerga forces between the two major Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), while institutionalizing a unified command structure.

The meeting attendees “discussed in depth the reform process and its effective implementation, as well as insisting that the [Kurdistan Region’s] Presidency and Government make the reform and reorganization of the Peshmerga Forces one of their main priorities over their next four years of office,” an MoPE statement read.

A meeting between MoPE officials and international coalition against Islamic State member country representatives on June, 18, 2019. (Photo: MoPE)
A meeting between MoPE officials and international coalition against Islamic State member country representatives on June, 18, 2019. (Photo: MoPE)

It added that coalition representatives and US and UK consul generals “all promised to continue their military support, as well as aiding in the implementation of the reform projects for the Ministry of Peshmerga.”

There are about 240,000 Peshmerga fighters in the Kurdistan Region. Although some have been unified under the umbrella of the Peshmerga Ministry, the majority remain divided, taking orders largely from the political parties to which they belong.

About 2,000 Peshmerga were killed fighting the so-called Islamic State and 12,000 were wounded, according to the Peshmerga Ministry. Since 2014, CJTF-OIR has trained thousands of Peshmerga fighters, and that training continues.

Editing by Laurie Mylroie