Lawmaker Claims Syrian Kurds
Trained in Iraqi Kurdistan

Kurdistan Alliance MP Mahmoud Othman confirmed that some Syrian Kurds are receiving military training in the Kurdistan region.

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Summary : A Kurdish MP told Azzaman that Syrian Kurds were being trained in Iraq’s Kurdistan region before making their way to Syria to fight. The disclosure has proved controversial, with lawmakers accusing the Kurdistan region of violating Iraq’s constitution, reports Khawla al-Oukayli. Publisher: Azzaman (Iraq) Original Title: Kurdistan Alliance MP Othman Affirms the Training of Syrian Kurds in Kurdistan Author: Khawla al-Oukayli First Published: October 23, 2012 Posted on: October 23 2012 Translated by: Joelle El-Khoury Categories : Security Syria   Iraq

Othman told Azzaman yesterday [Oct. 22] that “the Kurdistan region has trained some Syrian Kurds who left their hometowns after fighting erupted between the Syrian regime's army and the Free Syrian Army a few months ago.”

He explained that “the Kurdistan region has trained Syrians to protect their region from the worsening security situation as a result of the absence of security forces in these areas.” He noted that “the Kurdistan region did not intend to train Syrian Kurds with the goal of them taking part in the fighting in Syria.”

General Secretary of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Peshmerga Jabar Yawar denied that the ministry was responsible for any camps established to train Syrian Kurds fleeing Syria into the Kurdistan region.

Adnan al-Miyahi, a member of the parliamentary Security and Defense Committee, said that “the government is investigating the news regarding the [existence of] Syrian Kurdish training camps in Kurdistan being funded and supported by Turkey.”

In a statement released yesterday [Oct. 22], Miyahi said: “The presence of these camps in the Kurdistan region — if it is proven that they exist — is a violation of the constitution and the country's sovereignty, for the constitution stipulates that Iraq cannot be a springboard or a shelter [for those] threatening the security of any country.”