VIDEO: US says PKK has no role in Sinjar

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is designated a terrorist organization and should have no role in Sinjar (Shingal), said the spokesperson of the US State Department on Thursday.

The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani stated in the conference of "Independence of Kurdistan: Challenges and Opportunities" on Thursday that the PKK's presence in Shingal is the obstacle for the Yezidi (Ezidi) internally displaced persons (IDPs) to return home as well as for the reconstruction of the city.

In response to Kurdistan24 Correspondent in Washington DC Laurie Mylroie regarding the presence of the PKK in Shingal, John Kirby, the spokesperson of the US State Department emphasized that the PKK should leave the city.

“We continue to believe that the PKK, which is a US-designated foreign terrorist organization, should have no role in Sinjar,” Kirby told Kurdistan24. “We regard their presence there as a major obstacle to a reconciliation and to the return of internally displaced people.”

He urged all groups including the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to help political reconciliation that can help IDPs return home to Shingal and rebuild the region.

“We also urge continued and close cooperation between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government to defeat Da’esh and to resolve any other outstanding issues between them,” Kirby said, using the Arabic pejorative term for the Islamic State (IS).

Following the attack of IS on Shingal in August 2014, the PKK fighters started to move to the area to fight the extremist group. In November 2015, Peshmerga forces with the aerial support of the US-led coalition warplanes liberated Shingal from IS.

Editing by Ava Homa