Kurdistan Region President Marks Historic Peshmerga Unification

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Monday described the unification of the Peshmerga forces as a major national step in strengthening the Kurdistan Region's institutions, saying the reform process began under President Masoud Barzani's leadership in 2016 and must now extend into every level of military command, organization and discipline.

Speaking at the Peshmerga unification ceremony on Sept. 21, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said the achievement was the result of years of work toward a goal long sought by the people of Kurdistan.

"This process is not merely a change in structure and organization, nor is it simply the transfer of units from one formation to another," he said. "It is a major national step in the journey of building the institutions of the Kurdistan Region."

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani traced the formal reform effort to 2016, when President Barzani initiated changes within the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs.

He placed that decision in the context of the Peshmerga's fight against ISIS, saying the forces, under President Barzani's command, had "shattered the myth of ISIS."

He also recalled the Peshmerga deployment to Kobani in 2014 on President Barzani's orders, describing it as a distinguished chapter in the history of defending the people of Kurdistan.

One Force, One Ministry, One Command

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said the objective of reform had always gone beyond administrative restructuring.

"For years, we have said that Kurdistan needs one force, one ministry and one command," he said. "The Peshmerga must be a national force, free from the interference of political and partisan disputes."

Monday's ceremony, he added, represented another major step toward realizing that objective.

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani drew on the Peshmerga's battlefield experience to underline his argument for institutional unity. During periods of greatest danger, he said, distinctions between different Peshmerga formations or regions disappeared.

"In the most difficult times, the Peshmerga stood together on the front lines, made sacrifices together and shed their blood in defense of one land and one people," he said.

He described the Peshmerga's history as a shared national legacy that should now be consolidated within a single institution.

"The Peshmerga has a distinguished history," Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said. "Today, we are bringing that history and all those sacrifices together within a single national institution."

He added that the legacy created by successive generations of Peshmerga was now being transformed into "a unified force dedicated to protecting Kurdistan."

Unification Begins a New Phase

While celebrating the achievement, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani cautioned against treating Monday's ceremony as the end of the reform process.

Instead, he said unification opens a new phase that could prove even more difficult because the principle of unity must now become visible in the everyday operation of the force.

"From today onward, this unity must be reflected in every aspect: command and leadership, decisions and orders, training and organization, rights and duties, promotions, military service and discipline," he said.

That next stage, according to Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, will determine whether structural unification develops into a fully integrated national military institution.

His address therefore combined recognition of a long-awaited achievement with a clear message about the work still ahead.

The reform effort that began in 2016 has reached a major institutional milestone, but the objective outlined by Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani remains broader: a Peshmerga force operating through one ministry and one chain of command, insulated from partisan disputes and united by common standards of leadership, training, service and discipline.

Monday's ceremony, in that sense, marked both the culmination of years of reform and the beginning of the next stage in building a unified Peshmerga institution.

The article was updated on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, at 12:37pm.