Will Dissolving the PKK End the Yazidis' Suffering in Sinjar?
Originally published at Alhurra by Delshad Hussein
The young Yazidi man Khalil—a pseudonym—still suffers from a severe injury he sustained in 2021, when a Turkish airstrike hit the hospital where he worked in Sinjar, northern Iraq.
He recalls the deafening explosion that turned his room in Sikinya Hospital into a cloud of black smoke and dust. When it cleared, Khalil found himself among the few who survived the bombing.
According to Sinjar’s district administration, the airstrike killed eight doctors and healthcare workers, wounded several others, and completely destroyed the hospital.
At the time, Turkey claimed the strike targeted a headquarters belonging to the Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), not a civilian facility. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan denied, in a call with then-Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, that a hospital had been bombed.
But Khalil vehemently rejects that account.
He told Alhurra: “The hospital was directly targeted without any warning or explanation. We were working under the health banner, clearly displayed on the building, and yet we were bombed.”
Sinjar: A Suspended Fate
Although Sinjar was liberated from ISIS in 2015, the vast majority of displaced Yazidis have not returned. The reasons are many: widespread destruction, lack of basic services, and—most importantly—a mosaic of rival armed groups that have turned the city into a flashpoint of geopolitical conflict.
The PKK entered Sinjar in 2014 to help liberate it from ISIS, alongside the Peshmerga, Yazidi volunteers, and the U.S.-led coalition.
While their role in the battle was recognized, their continued presence in the city sparked growing resentment—particularly because Sinjar has since faced repeated Turkish airstrikes targeting alleged PKK elements, complicating civilian return.
“We hope the decision to dissolve the PKK will include its forces in Sinjar. Only then will Turkey lose its excuse to bomb us, and we can return to our homes,” says Rozda, a Yazidi woman displaced since 2014 who now lives in Duhok.
Who Controls Sinjar Today?
There is no simple answer. The city is divided among several armed factions, including:
Iran-aligned Shiite factions within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), such as Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, Badr Organization, Kataib Imam Ali, Kataib Hezbollah, and Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades.
Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ), affiliated with the PKK.
Forces linked to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), such as the Sinjar Brigade and the Ezidkhan Protection Units.
Iraqi Army, Federal Police, and local police.
Despite Turkish accusations, YBŞ commander Arif Shingali insists his forces are not affiliated with the PKK.
“We are a local Yazidi force formed in response to the massacres and violations Yazidis suffered—especially the 2014 genocide by ISIS. We operate within Iraqi territory,” he told Alhurra.
Shingali acknowledged the peace initiative launched in February by PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan, but clarified: “This initiative does not include the YBŞ.” He emphasized that Sinjar’s future depends not only on developments in Turkey, but on resolving long-standing local issues: justice for Yazidi victims, return of the displaced, and strengthening local governance.
A Stalled Agreement
In October 2020, Baghdad and Erbil signed a UN-brokered agreement to “normalize” Sinjar. It called for all non-official armed groups to withdraw and handed security responsibilities to the local police—paving the way for reconstruction and the return of displaced persons.
Nearly four years later, the agreement remains unimplemented. Politicians from the Kurdistan Region, speaking to Alhurra in November, accused the PKK and Iran-aligned factions of obstructing it.
Idris Zozani, a senior official from the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s Sinjar branch (Branch 17), said it’s unlikely the PKK would disarm without solid guarantees from Turkey.
“The PKK has had a presence in this region—and all parts of Kurdistan—for years. It's not easy for them to obey Turkey and simply drop their weapons or vacate their positions,” Zozani told Alhurra.
He added: “The PKK has become a burden on Sinjar, Makhmour, and other areas in the Kurdistan Region, as well as other Kurdish regions where its fighters operate. It is also a major obstacle to implementing the Sinjar Agreement.”
Zozani believes new agreements between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal Iraqi government could be possible—if the PKK-Turkey agreement is implemented.
No Real Progress
Meanwhile, Aidan Sheikh Kalu, a member of the Nineveh Provincial Council, said the government has taken no serious steps to resolve Sinjar’s problems.
“Singar’s status is always tied to local and international influences, but it must be treated as an Iraqi city—a district of Nineveh Province. Its protection, security, and overall resolution should be the responsibility of the sovereign Iraqi government.”
As for the proposed dissolution of the PKK, Sheikh Kalu said concrete, coordinated action is needed by all countries hosting PKK fighters. One step, he said, could be issuing a general amnesty to facilitate their return home after disarmament—but stressed that the terms of any peace agreement remain unclear, and the PKK has yet to begin surrendering its weapons.
The peace initiative between Ankara and the PKK has not yet taken effect. Turkish military operations against PKK fighters continue in the Kurdistan Region. Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK)—the umbrella group that includes the PKK and affiliated organizations—announced that “talk of disarmament is premature.”
In an interview broadcast on Sterk TV, the PKK’s affiliated satellite channel, on May 16, KCK spokesperson Zagros Hiwa said the party’s 12th congress resolutions do not mean abandoning armed struggle, but rather “a declaration to end the conflict in its current form.” He added: “The conditions for peace have not yet matured.”