Kurdistan officials praise Erbil-Baghdad agreement on Sinjar

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Senior officials from the autonomous Kurdistan Region have praised the agreement announced on Friday between Baghdad and Erbil to restore security and stability to the Yezidi (Ezidi) majority district of Sinjar (Shingal), one of Iraq's disputed territories where competing armed groups are active.

Read More: KRG and Baghdad reach administrative, security agreement on Sinjar

“The agreement between Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iraqi Federal Government to bring back stability and normalizing the situation in Shingal district is a positive step in the right direction,” said Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), in a statement on Friday evening.

Barzani also “extended his thanks” to both governments “for reaching a compromise that will lead to the normalization of peoples’ livelihoods in those areas, reduce the pain and suffering of our Ezidi brothers and sisters, and enable the displaced people to return home after years of displacement and pain due to terrorist attacks.”

“I hope that this crucial step is the beginning of a resolution to all the outstanding issues and disputes between Erbil and Baghdad,” Barzani added.

The agreement involves understandings on security, civil administration, reconstruction and service rehabilitation, and the return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Additionally, it includes a plan to withdraw all armed groups from the area, restore the local administration, and appoint a new mayor.

In his own statement, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said he viewed the development “with great positivity and optimism.”

“We commend the two negotiating teams on both sides for making the succeeding in reaching an agreement,” noting that “this achievement is the result of a sense of responsibility, solidarity and joint action between the relevant parties,” he added, thanking Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi for his “prominent, active, and helpful role in making the dialog succeed.”

Barzani also extended his thanks to the support and the participation of Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq.

“This agreement is a correct national step in the interest of the whole country, and this step will lead to rebuilding and strengthening confidence between the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government,” continued the regional president, saying he hoped “other steps will follow to solve all problems between the two sides and will result in the return of the Ezidi sisters and brothers and all the people of Shingal with dignity, safety, and without problems.”

He concluded by calling for “commitment to implementing the agreement,” and called on international partners to “help us in the reconstruction of Shingal and the region and revive its infrastructure, which will lead to achieving security, stability, and community peace, as well as deepening coexistence and tolerance among its components.”

Editing by John J. Catherine