“We will do our best to ensure the security and development of Sinjar,” said Nechirvan Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government, on the anniversary of ISIL’s massacre of the Yazidis. “The PKK has turned Sinjar into a field of illegal armed groups.” “It has made them the tools of its political agenda, regardless of the demands of the people.”
While acknowledging the lack of reconstruction and security in Sinjar, Barzani blamed the PKK for instability and insecurity in Sinjar, which has prevented people from returning home for several years after the defeat of ISIS in the region.
Six years ago, Peshmerga forces left the area without informing the people of Sinjar, and the people suddenly found themselves under siege by ISIS. Thousands of Yazidi men and women were killed, captured and enslaved by ISIS, and a number are still missing. The PKK abused the situation at the time and settled there. Now, because of the PKK, Turkey has repeatedly bombed the area, so people prefer to stay in the camps but not to return to the PKK-controlled area.
Under Iraqi law, the Sinjar administration is under the control of the central government and is one of the disputed areas of the Kurdistan Region with Baghdad.
