Turkey's HDP calls intra-Kurdish fighting in Shingal 'fratricide'

ANKARA, Turkey (Kurdistan24) - The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Turkey's second-largest opposition block, labeled Friday's eruption of clashes between a brigade of Peshmerga forces and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) affiliates near the Ezidi-majority town of Shingal (Sinjar) in Southern Kurdistan fratricide.

Speaking to reporters at the Turkish Parliament in Ankara, HDP Spokesperson and lawmaker Osman Baydemir said any Kurdish infighting would "only benefit" the Islamic State (IS) group, Iran, and Turkey, relayed Kurdistan24 Bureau there.

The hours-long clashes killed one fighter from the PKK-allied Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) and wounded several from both sides.

"We are on the eve of a fratricide," said Baydemir calling for efforts to immediately halt the infighting that already stopped before the noon.

The ceasefire gave way to negotiations between PKK commanders in the region and Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga Ministry officials.

Baydemir said "Birakujî," fratricide in Kurdish, was "treason" to the legendary liberation leaders Mullah Mustafa Barzani, Seyid Riza, Sheikh Said and "martyrs" of Kurdistan.

"Birakujî is also treason to the [legacy] of Peshmerga martyrs, and martyrs of Kobani," Baydemir continued, referring to the Syrian Kurdish border town whose resistance against the 2014 Islamist assault created an unprecedented, cross-border sense of unity and solidarity among the Kurds across the Middle East.

The crux of the short-lived, yet expected PKK-Peshmerga conflict lies in the August 2014 IS attack on Shingal that resulted in a genocide against Ezidi Kurds.

PKK's coming to the area in defense of locals, and the following dispute over military control of the territory with the Kurdistan Region authorities brewed current state of affairs.

Editing by Ava Homa