ANF reached the name list of the so-called Iraqi border guard units. This force is provided entirely by the KDP, the ruling party in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq), and is meant to act together with the Turkish army against the Kurdish freedom movement. Previously, footage of a military ceremony in Zakho, which is controlled by the KDP, was circulated on digital networks and interpreted as a counter-guerrilla operation. Apparently, the soldiers had completed a training course and were marching through the city in a show of force. It now came out that these soldiers are in fact so-called Iraqi border guard units, which are to be deployed to the guerrilla-held Medya Defense Zones to support the Turkish state. The troops that marched in Zakho chanting slogans were trained in the region. However, the march in the city was a first.

ANF now obtained the list of names of the members of the forces trained by the KDP against the guerrillas. The list contains the names of 360 people, the date they joined and the unit to which they belong. It is known that this force consists of special forces of the KDP as well as Gulan units directly affiliated with the Barzani clan and the Zerevani units of Masrour Barzanî. Recruitment for this force is ongoing. After their training, the units were transferred to areas around Duhok and Amadiya. This indicates a direct deployment against the Medya Defence Zones.

Southern Kurdistan is on the brink of the abyss

The KDP has failed with its clientelistic and nepotistic policies and is completely dependent on the Turkish state. It is jeopardising all the achievements of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq in order to maintain its power. In its party magazine Xebat, it has also implicitly threatened an invasion of the PUK-ruled governorate of Sulaymaniyah. People who stand for Kurdish freedom, democratisation and unity are in mortal danger from the KDP. The KDP’s intelligence service, Parastin, acts as an extension of the Turkish secret service, MIT.

From Saddam to Erdoğan

While almost every part of South Kurdistan has been opened to bargaining under the name of balance politics, the KDP, which worked with the Ba'ath regime that slaughtered the Kurds when it was stuck against the PUK in 1996, today sides with the Erdoğan regime, which shapes its existence through the annexation and occupation of Kurdistan. It is reported that the KDP, which considers being involved in Turkey's new occupation plans as a salvation for its own power, accelerated its positioning against the guerrilla forces with the force it trained under the name of Iraqi Border Guard Units.

Military march in Zakho

The KDP is trying to achieve several goals by deploying counter-units labeled as Iraqi border guards against the Kurdish freedom movement. The Barzani clan has long wanted to get rid of any alternative to its rule by the grace of Turkey. Although the KDP has repeatedly taken military action against the PKK, it is thanks to the guerrillas' restraint that war has not yet broken out. With the label "Iraqi Border Guard", the KDP now also has the opportunity to directly involve the Iraqi central government in the event of a military conflict and thus have its own interests supported by both Baghdad and Ankara. As an ally of NATO and Turkey, the KDP is likely to receive extensive backing from the West in its actions as an errand boy for Turkish imperialism.