Unfolding facts about so-called "Peshmerga Roj" in Zina warti

Much talk has been about the so-called "Peshmerga Roj" since the beginning of the revolution in Syria. Some political parties officials in Rojava appeared on  Kurdish TV's claiming that these forces are to protect the Kurdish people in Syria, but most of them ended up in the asylum camps of the old continent (Europe). These armed groups  did not move during the Shingal genocide against the Yazidi Kurds in July 2014.

Now, with Zina warti area turmoil in Başûr of Kurdistan,  Peshmerga Roj name appeared once again as it did in 2017 when it attacked the Kurds in the Khana Sor district of Shingal district. What is this armed group? what are its objectives? and what did it do for the Kurdish people?

Who founded it and when? 

The so-called "Peshmerga Roj" is an armed group formed in 2012 at the request of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) whose chairman is Massoud Barzani, Kurdistan of Iraq president then.

This group consists of Rojava sons who fled to Başûr of Kurdistan after the Syrian revolution, and the KDP took advantage of their need to secure their livelihood in order to be recruited into a military group that serves the party's plans and objectives in Syria.

The members of this group received military training by Turkish intelligence experts in camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and were named "Peshmerga Roj or Lashkare Roj", under the umbrella of the so-called Kurdish National Council in Syria (ENKS) that is part of the so-called Syrian National Coalition based in Istanbul, Turkey. The Peshmerga Ministry in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq claims that they are not affiliated with it, but in fact it belongs to the Zervani forces ( private forces )of the Peshmerga Ministry.

This armed group consists of three brigades with unknown accurate number, but some media outlets estimate their number at about 3,000. The vast majority of this armed group are members from the Syrian displaced or defectors from the Syrian regime forces.

The group is deployed on Rojava border areas or the north and east of Syria, especially in Ain Aweiz.

The Turkish prime minister visits their camp!

On November 22, 2014, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu then, visited the so-called "Peshmerga Roj" training camp in Başûr of Kurdistan, and was received by Turkish intelligence officers and Peshmerga officers in Kurdistan.

Davutoglu oversaw the graduation of the first batch at "Diana" camp in Kurdistan and the video published by the Turkish HABERLER.COM website and DHA News Agency. This group is supervised and directly linked to the Turkish Prime Minister's Office at that time, Ahmet Davutoglu. All this confirms the associations..

In an earlier interview with Riad Salaheddine, a defected officer from the so-called " Peshmerga Roj", he confirmed that the Turkish support for this group, and said, "several parties visit the Peshmerga Roj and Turkey was visiting the groups in public. Some of the parties were participating in the the group traing."

During his meeting, he stressed that the support received by the so-called "Peshmerga Rouge" was "strong" that Başûr of Kurdistan could not provide, adding that "support came from ambiguous parties. My colleagues and I sought, we were sure that this support was coming from Turkey."

Why didn't they defend Rojava? 

The issue of the so-called "Peshmerga Roj" return to Syria has been raised several times, particularly in the Kurdish National Council-Democratic Society Movement agreements at the beginning of the Syrian crisis (Hewler 1, Hewler II and Dohuk Agreements).

Despite establishing a political and military references for Kurdish parties in Rojava to oversee all military forces in Rojava, these armed groups did not move when Rojava was under attack by Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS. It argued " an ideological dispute" to cover up its affiliation with Turkey that led Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS to attack Rojava.

"Peshmerga are coming" phrase remained on Direk walls  in northeast of Syria, which provided thousands of martyrs in its war against ISIS and mercenary groups that were carrying out massacres of Kurds and expelling them from their homes from Tel A'aran and Tal Al-Hasal in 2013, passing through Raqqa and Girê Spî/Tal Abyad to Kobane in 2014.

This group moved in accordance with the interests of some political parties in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and under the orders of the Turkish intelligence to strike the Kurds with each other so that they could apply their dirty plans against the Kurds.

Attacks on Khana Sor

This armed group was absent from the scene but it reappeared as the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Turkish intelligence sought to exploit this group, whose sons come from northern and eastern Syria to carry out their plans in the region by attacking Khana Sor district in Shingal.

On March 3, 2017, the group mobilized and attacked residents of Khana Sor district in order to create conflict after the Turkish state attempts failed to hit the Kurds with each other.

In those attacks, a number of PKK armless fighters who had mediated to stop the clashes in the area, martyred. Peshmerga Roj also targeted journalists where Nojian Aran was shot in the head consequently martyred on March 23 of her injuries.

Interestingly, the group's attacks came just days after Massoud Barzani, visited Turkey on February 26, 2017 and discussed how to fight the Kurds and the newly-announced Autonomous Administration in Shingal district after its liberation from ISIS.

At that time, the reactions on KDP-Iraq militants' attacks on the area continued and the Kurds called the attackers "mercenaries" because they targeted their Kurdish brothers in order to impose KDP control over the area from which they fled to leave the Yazidis at the mercy of ISIS, which abducted thousands of Yazidi women and children in Shingal.

Turkish-on-demand group...the Libyan National Army confirms their presence in Libya!

Turkey recruited and trained thousands of Syrian mercenaries inside Turkish territory, and sent them to Libya to fight alongside the Accord Government in order to achieve Turkish ambitions there, but the Libyan National Army, which reveals through press conferences the identity of the Turkish mercenaries, has once again put the light on the so-called "Peshmerga Roj".

Libyan National Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Masmari noted at a press conference last week that there was a Syrian Kurdish mercenary fighting alongside Turkish mercenaries and said that he was called "Shaker Farman Saleh Bonjoq" from Tirbespiyê area in the northeast of Syria. The spokesperson also revealed that he was trained by the so-called "Peshmerga Roj" in Başûr of Kurdistan region.

This group hastened to deny this information and at the same time,  some media outlets communicated with his family  that admitted that they are at odds with him and confirmed that he was displaced to Kurdistan at the beginning of the Syrian crisis and moved to Turkey in 2015. Although the family denied this information, it confirmed the presence of three of its members within the so-called "Peshmerga Roj".

What are they doing in Qandil mountain? 

Başûr of Kurdistan witnessed  recently a major escalation by the Turkish occupation forces, which bombed the Mexmûr camp on April 15 as a result, three women lost their lives from the camp with a large crowds of Kurdistan Democratic Party affiliated Peshmergas in Zina warte area.

Kurdistan-based Rojnews News Agency confirmed that the KDP has brought military reinforcements to the area, and pointed out that these forces include elements known as "Peshmerga Roj" while KDP's forces were stationed in two other locations and caused the escalation.

The so-called "Peshmerga Roj" heading the region, coinciding with Turkish air strikes on the area, where three PKK fighters ( Guerrillas ) were martyred.

"A unit of three Guerrillas fighters went to a Peshmerga point to informed them that their presence in this area was wrong and they asked them to leave. A day after the unit left the Peshmerga headquarters, its position came under Turkish air bombardment," the joint presidency of the Kurdish Society Organisation's leadership body said. The intelligence-based-attack resulted in the death of the three fighters. "The targeted point does not have any civilians, clearly Peshmerga headquarters revealed the Guerrillas position."

The joint presidency confirmed that the KDP forces presence in Zina warte for a plan to occupy Qandil, and promised that the withdrawal of those forces would serve the Kurdish people and their survival would only benefit the Turkish state.

Turkey is trying to attack the Qandil Mountains and strike the Kurds together and eliminate the gains made in Rojava and Başûr together through KDP forces and Lashkare Roj participation in the attack on Qandil.

The question remains: will the KDP and the so-called "Peshmerga Roj" continue to move forward under the Turkish plan and orders or will they prevail over the narrow partisan interest? That's what the next few days will tell us.

A.J

ANHA