MARDIN - More than one special forces are involved in the attacks carried out by Turkey on the Metîna, Avaşîn and Zap areas in cooperation with the KDP. We have compiled who are these non-Pêshmerga forces, who are they affiliated with and what kind of tasks they have undertaken in the last operation.

 

Turkey launched a new operation in the Zap, Avaşîn and Metîna areas in the Federated Kurdistan Region with the partnership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK/KDP) on April 17. Turkey's intense operations in the region  began on April 15, 2020 in Zînî Wertê, where the KDP shifted power despite being under the control of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK/YNK). The KDP, which stepped in because Turkey did not have a chance to directly intervene in the region, argued that the forces shifted to the region were a "common power", but was denied by the PUK.

 

Afterwards, on February 10, 2021, 13 captive soldiers and MİT personnel in the hands of the PKK lost their lives in the Garê operation, and Turkey, which did not get what it expected, continued its operations in the region. It is stated that as a result of the operations, which are planned to continue in stages, it is planned to take the Federated Kurdistan Region under control after the liquidation of the HPG.

 

WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE ATTACKS?

 

While the attacks launched by Turkey from the ground and the air on April 17 continue, unlike other attacks, the forces affiliated with the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) are carrying out their attacks this time from areas under the control of the KDP. After the discussions that the peshmerga forces were also involved in the attacks carried out by Turkey in cooperation with the KDP, the Federated Kurdistan Region Peshmerga Ministry announced in a statement that the forces in the region were not the forces affiliated to the Peshmerga Ministry, but special forces affiliated with the KDP. Similarly, in the statements made by HPG sources, it was noted that the forces acting together with the soldiers affiliated with the TAF were special forces affiliated with the KDP.

 

PÊSHMERGE DISCUSSIONS

 

While revealing that the forces affiliated with the Peshmerga Ministry and those affiliated with the KDP are different, these statements causes confusion in a sense. At the same time, statements came from Peshmerga groups and political circles that the KDP's special forces had nothing to do with the Peshmerga. While there were occasional reactions to the statements that the said forces were affiliated with the KDP, some names within the KDP were making statements that the said forces were not affiliated with the KDP, but that the Barzani family had special powers.

 

WHO HAS MILITARY FORCES?

 

In order to clarify the discussions, we have compiled the forces referred to as the Peshmerga in Iraq. Almost every political party in Iraq has its own military forces. There are armed forces affiliated with the KDP, PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Socialist Party (KDSP) in the Federated Kurdistan Region. Kurdistan Islamic Community (Komel) and Islamic Movement (Bizutnew), Socialist Party, Communist Party, Goran Movement, Kurdistan Islamic Unity Party (Yekgirtû) and New Generation Movement do not have military forces. Nearly 3,000 of the approximately 120 thousand Peshmerga forces are affiliated with the PDSK, 60,000 of the rest are affiliated with the KDP, and more than 55,000 are affiliated with the PUK.

 

MINISTRY OF PÊSHMERGE

 

Although it was decided to combine the Peshmerga forces in the Federated Kurdistan Region with the merger of the Hewler and Sulaymaniyah administrations in 2005, the unification of all forces has not been achieved so far. About 50,000 of the forces have been combined under the umbrella of the Ministry of Peshmerga. Apart from the forces acting under the Ministry, special forces were formed in the region over time. It was announced by all segments that the peshmerga affiliated to the Ministry took part in the fight against ISIS and did not participate in Turkey's operations. While PUK executives are active in the Ministry, Şoreş İsmail Abdullah from the PUK is the head of the Ministry.

 

DÊRİN PESHMERGA 

 

The Peshmerga, known as the Dêrin Peshmerga is a formation made up of Peshmerga who were wounded in the war or retired due to their age, some of whom were forcibly retired. In a way, although there are former Peshmerga members affiliated with the YNK, KDP and PDSK within this formation, which is within the body of the association, the Deep Peshmerga, who do not see themselves as affiliated with any political formation, are also seen as the only formation where groups from different politics can gather under one roof. The Deep Peshmerga are known for their stance that directly opposes Turkey's operations in the region, as well as a war amongs of Kurds.

 

FORCES AFFILIATED WITH THE PUK

 

According to 2015 data, there are 56 thousand Peshmerga forces affiliated with the PUK in the region, while there is a force called "Ready Units" of 10 thousand people affiliated with the PUK but affiliated with the Ministry of Interior of the Federated Kurdistan Region.

 

THE FORCES OF LEŞKERAN GULAN AND ZEREVANI 

 

The armed forces called Leşkerên Gulan, affiliated to the KDP, are divided into two different groups in the region. There is a special force called the Zerevani Forces, some of which are affiliated with the Gulan Peshmerga, some of which are defined as a normal military force. While some of the Leşkerên Gulan forces affiliated with the KDP are affiliated to the Peshmerga Ministry, the Zerevani Forces act independently of the Ministry.

 

 

The said forces are affiliated with Mesrur Barzani, the Prime Minister of the Federated Kurdistan Region and son of Mesut Barzani, who had meetings with President Erdogan and MIT Undersecretary Hakan Fidan in Turkey, where he arrived the day before the operations. The Zerevani Forces are known to have received their first training from the Special Forces of the TAF. While the Zerevani Forces were previously known as special forces affiliated with the KDP that acted with TAF soldiers, they are again at the center of the discussions today.

 

It is stated that the said forces, which are stated to have a leading role in Turkey's operations in the region, act together with the Turkish military in the areas where they are settled. So that; It is stated that Turkish soldiers continue their intelligence activities together with these forces, wearing the clothes of the Zerevani forces.

 

EZIZ WEYSI

 

Zerevani forces, acting together with the TAF, are seen as a "special operations" organisation. Officially, they are headed by Siyar Barzani, who is also from the Barzani family, and their command is Eziz Weysi. Eziz Weysi, who is related to the Barzani family, joined the PKK in 1989 due to the conflict between the KDP and the PUK, and also served as a guerrilla commander in Heftanin and Zagros. He fled to the KDP in 1996, following the investigation initiated by the organisation due to his practice in the PKK in the early 90s. In a short time, he is brought to the head of the Zerevani forces established by Nechirvan Barzani.

 

ROJ PESHMERGES

 

Another force that is at the center of the discussions and that is stated to act together with the TAF is a counter force called the Roj Peshmerga. It was established in 2012 under ENKS in Northern and Eastern Syria against ISIS and the Syrian regime in the first years of the Syrian civil war. Roj peshmerga are criticized for acting with Turkey and groups affiliated with Turkey while the fight against ISIS continues in Northern and Eastern Syria. The Roj peshmerga, who were expelled from the region on the grounds that they behaved contrary to the gains of the Kurds in Northern and Eastern Syria, are located in the areas under Turkish control in Syria and the Federated Kurdistan Region.

 

The Roj peshmerga, which have claims that they sided with Turkey as a military force in Libya for a while, are known as a military force that came to the fore in the Garê operation and in the war against the PKK in Zînî Wertê. While the Roj peshmerga commanders denied the allegations when these allegations came to the fore, today it is stated that they were again driven to the front in the Federated Kurdistan Region against the PKK. Whether the Roj peshmerga are affiliated with the Ministry of Peshmerga remains a mystery.

 

 

 

MA / Ahmet Kanbal