KRG won’t recognize PKK-affiliate schools in Shingal: Minister

DOHUK, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Minister of Education Pishtiwan Sadiq on Monday warned about students who study in schools in Shingal under the control of the PKK and its armed group.

During an opening ceremony for two schools in the province of Duhok, Sadiq said the KRG would not recognize the certificate of students who study in schools under the control of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its affiliated group known as Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) in the Ezidi-populated city of Shingal.

He mentioned the PKK’s education system differs from the KRG’s Ministry of Education without going into further detail.

Kurdistan24 contacted Mazlum Shingali, the Commander of YBS in Shingal. He said kids are learning basic education in those schools.

“There are six to seven primary schools in the area where children are taught basic stuff such as learning how to write in Latin words,” Shingali said, adding the schools are only for kids aged 5 to 6-years-old.

He noted the KRG does not run those schools, but “won’t be a barrier if the KRG wants to administrate them.”

Since March 3, 2017, tensions emerged between the PKK, its armed groups in Shingal, and the Kurdistan Region Peshmerga forces leading to some casualties from both sides.

The KRG and Ezidi leaders have repeatedly called on the PKK and its affiliated groups to withdraw from Shingal, but the group refuses to leave the area.

The PKK’s presence in the Kurdistan Region was recently blamed for a Turkish airstrike that left five Peshmerga martyred and several more injured.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany