YPJ fighter Gill Rosenberg.

How would the evacuation of Mount Sinjar affect geopolitical dynamics in Syria?

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Ezidi(Yazidi) militia near Sinjar





People's Defense Headquarters Commander Murat Karayılan said in an interview with RojNews that it is not right to evacuate Yazidis from the Mount Sinjar, stressing that; “If they were evacuated, their return would be much more difficult.”

Karayılan, according to whom Yazidis should on the contrary be settled in this area, said that; “There are some 10 thousand people on Mount Sinjar at the moment. They are in fact fulfilling a sacred and substantial duty. They shouldn't leave Sinjar. Despite all the difficulties and pains they have been through, this is the resistance of Sinjar."

Pointing out that the ISIS tried to draw Kurds away from Sinjar and thus to arabicize the town and the region, Karayılan said: “For instance, the ISIS has started cultivation in the south of Sinjar and settled Arabs in the villages in this region. This is the reason why I am defending that the return and resettlement of the Yazidi people would be much more difficult if they were drawn away from this region.”

Regarding the intention of South Kurdistani forces to evacuate the Mount Sinjar, Karayılan said; "I am calling on the Southern forces and the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) in particular to not to give cause for the evacuation of these regions. We do not consider these efforts to be right. The citizens of these regions should on the contrary be enabled to turn back and all their needs should be met in order to achieve this."

Source: http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/karayilan-mount-sinjar-shouldn-t-be-evacuated.htm


PKK commander Karayilin (he's the one in the middle)



Leaders of Kurdish parties in Iraq and Syria.


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Kenny comments: not really facts, mostly my opinions and speculations.

OK so it seems like PKK is trying to gain influence in Sinjar. Before Sinjar(Shingal) was captured by ISIS it was politically allied with KDP. It's important to KDP that Ezidis(Yazidis) ally with KDP politically because it helps KDP maintain political dominance in north western Iraq. PKK doesn't have a political party that runs for elections in Iraqi Kurdistan. But they are closer to PUK then KDP. PKK is pushing the idea of an autonomous canton in Sinjar. I'm guessing it would be similar to Syrian Kurdistan. But Iraqi Kurdistan has a Unitarian form of government as far as I know. As far as I know there are about 2,000 Ezidi(Yazidi) fighters on Mount Sinjar.

Before Sinjar was captured it seems like local Ezidi militias were not well funded and the Peshmerga were the official defense force there. I think PKK wants Ezidi militias to be formally recognized. There are more then one Ezidi militia on Mount Sinjar. PKK is most closely allied with the YBS Ezidi militia. They were created by PKK and YPG after Sinjar was captured. But there are other Ezidi militias too that existed before then who are independent of PKK. Some Ezidi militias has complained that they are falsely being portrayed as being politically allied to either KDP or PKK when they are in fact neutral. But some are allied to one or the other.

KDP doesn't want to lose Sinjar and Ezidi political loyalty because of their geopolitical importance. But PKK also wants Sinjar for the same reasons. BDP(PKK allied pro Kurdish party in Turkey) wants to create Kurdish language schools for Ezidis in Turkey for Ezidi refugees there. It's hard to open Kurdish language schools in Turkey because of legal hurdles and other social factors. If Ezidis allied to PKK gained influence in Sinjar then PKK will spread its sphere of influence into north western Iraq.

YPJ fighter Gill Rosenberg.

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