Turkmen protest in Kirkuk against abolition of their Northern Command

Shafaq News/ Dozens of Turkmen protesters gathered in Kirkuk on Saturday, calling on religious authorities and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani to intervene in al-Hashd al-Shaabi’s (the Popular Mobilization Forces-PMF) decision to abolish the Northern Command and merge it with another operational command.

Ali Hussein, one of the protesters, told Shafaq News Agency, "The Turkmen community is urging the religious authority represented by Sayyed Ali al-Sistani, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, and the head of the PMF Faleh al-Fayyad, to revoke the decision to merge the Northern Command, known as the Turkmen Force, with the East Tigris Operations Command."

He emphasized, "Our demand is to maintain the Northern Command because the Turkmen have sacrificed more than 3,500 lives in the operations to liberate Turkmen areas, and it is only right to honor these sacrifices by keeping the Northern Command intact."

Another protester, Abbas al-Bayati, added, "The decision is ill-considered. The Turkmen are demanding its cancellation, and there is a sit-in in Tuz Khurmatu. If the decision is not reversed, the sit-ins will escalate to blocking the main road between Kirkuk and Baghdad."

On Friday, an official within the PMF said that the leadership decided to dissolve the Turkmen Force.

The Turkmen Force "Northern Operations" was established alongside the formation of the PMF when ISIS seized and controlled several Iraqi governorates in 2014. It was responsible for protecting Turkmen areas in Saladin and Kirkuk and participated in numerous battles to liberate territories from ISIS control in Saladin, Kirkuk, and Nineveh.

The official told Shafaq News Agency that the decision was issued by the leadership of the PMF and the General Staff, canceling the Northern Operations Command, previously led by Abu Reza Al-Najjar. He did not reveal the reasons for the dissolution.