US, British Consul-Generals to Erbil mark 'ambitious' Peshmerga Min. reform project

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Tuesday presented the certificate of graduation to 100 members of the Ministry of Peshmerga—who partook in a project and program management course for a reform plan—during a ceremony in the British Consulate in Erbil.

The British Consul-General to Erbil, Martyn Warr, hosted the ceremony which was attended by the Acting Minister of Peshmerga Affairs, Karim Sinjari, newly-appointed US Consul-General to Erbil Steven Fagin, and members of the Peshmerga

The participants in the course, organized by the National School of Government International (NSGI), were in training for a new department working under the Ministry of Peshmerga, the Reform Directorate, which is part of a “35-point plan” to better equip the Kurdistan Region’s forces with evolving security threats, Warr revealed during the ceremony.

The event was organized to mark “the professionalism, drive, and determinism of the Reform Directorate staff,” who partook in training provided by advisers from the UK, US, and Germany, the British Consul-General added.

Warr reiterated the British government’s “strong, lasting relationship” with Kurdistan, and wished for more “security and stability” in the region.

He stated that the plan was at the request of then-President Masoud Barzani’s to reform the Peshmerga forces in 2015. By 2017, a comprehensive plan had been developed, the first step of which was the establishment of a separate directorate with the “internal capacity” for reform.

The reform plan, titled “The Peshmerga in the Future,” was agreed to by the KRG. Since then, the Peshmerga reform directorate has been formed, staffed, and housed in the capital of Erbil, Warr said.

Another objective of the plan was to unite the Peshmerga “under the flag of the Ministry,” Sinjari said during a press conference after the event.

There are over 200,000 Peshmerga in the Kurdistan Region. Unifying the forces has been a key concern for the ministry over the past decade as most Peshmerga are aligned and under the direct command of either one of the two leading Kurdish parties: the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

The Peshmerga have, nevertheless, been labeled one of the most effective ground troops in helping defeat the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria.

The Minister stated that the unification project of the 70 PUK and 80 KDP units was “underway.” He also noted that before the arrival of IS, steps were taken toward organizing the forces but were halted due to the ongoing fight against the terrorist organization.

“We don’t believe that [IS] is over, they have been defeated in territorial terms, but the underlying reasons for [the terrorist organization] may well still be there.”

Meanwhile, Warr said the coalition would “continue to remain committed to the lasting defeat of [IS].”

During the presser, all parties stressed that the reforms would take time with the US Consul-General pointing out that the program was “rightfully ambitious,” and Sinjari adding that aid from the major powers in the coalition against IS has eased the process.

Fagin marked “critical” the KRG’s push toward the reform project.

“This is a way of making [the Peshmerga] a more effective force for the region of Kurdistan.”

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany