Politics

Protests reason for Finland moving its forces in Iraq to Kurdistan: MP

A member of the Peshmerga Committee in the Kurdistan Region’s parliament said on Saturday that the reason behind Finland’s recent announcement that it was withdrawing its forces from Baghdad and moving them to Erbil is the security situation created by ongoing mass protests in Iraq.

Kurdistan 24 2019/12/29 08:24

middle east Finland Iraq Baghdad Protests Kurdistan Erbil Peshmerga

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A member of the Peshmerga Committee in the Kurdistan Region’s parliament said on Saturday that the reason behind Finland’s recent announcement that it was withdrawing its forces from Baghdad and moving them to Erbil is the security situation created by ongoing mass protests in Iraq.

Lawmaker Said Harki told Kurdistan 24, “The unstable situation and the deteriorating security conditions in the cities of central and southern Iraq are what prompted the Finnish forces to withdraw from Baghdad.”

“The second reason is that these forces will train the Peshmerga forces in the use of advanced weapons,” he added.

Said Harki, a member of the Peshmerga Committee in the Kurdistan Region’s parliament, speaks to Kurdistan 24. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

The Finnish army announced earlier in the month that it would re-organize its crisis management operations in Iraq at the beginning of 2020 by moving their forces to the Kurdistan Region and end training in areas the Iraqi central government controls.

Based on its foreign and security policy, Finland contributes to international crisis management as part of the global efforts in the fight against the so-called Islamic State.

In the announcement, the army stated that their soldiers would be “re-deployed in Erbil and join Finnish troops stationed there where they will provide military assistance to the Peshmerga forces as part of the Kurdistan Training Coordination Centre.”

The re-location will be the end of Finnish protective forces in Iraq, as the contingent will join the operation with about 80 peacekeepers who will be training, mentoring, and support activities.

“If the situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate, other countries will withdraw their fighters from central and southern Iraq to the Kurdistan Region,” said international policy expert Aras Abdullah to Kurdistan 24.

Iraq has been engulfed in anti-government protests for nearly three months now, where over 500 people have been killed in clashes between security forces and demonstrators, and thousands of others injured.

The protests in Iraq reflect widespread dissatisfaction with the economy, availability of jobs, the dismal state of public services, and widespread government corruption.