Sheikh Jangi with watery eyes: I did not imagine that my cousin would pull a poisoned dagger on me
Shafaq News/ The co-chair of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Lahore Sheikh Jangi, confirmed in a meeting with the families of the martyrs, today, Thursday, that he is ready - for the sake of the Patriotic Union - to leave work and move away if he make sure that he is the cause of the problems, adding that he will deliver a detailed speech Tonight to announce his position.
He added that Khamis al-Khanjar told him that the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that “Lahore was finished”, and "I told him, "What are you going to do? Are you going to throw missiles at me? If that's the case, let the missile be big to lessen the pain."
In another part of his speech, Sheikh Jangi said with watery eyes, "I'm sorry... I did not imagine that my cousin would pull a poisoned dagger on me," referring to the joint president, Bafel Talabani.
Lahore Sheikh Jangi also announced during his meeting with the families of the martyrs and the Anfal victims in the city of Al-Sulaymaniyah that he will announce today at night to the Kurdish people, that he will not leave his position except by a decision of the Party presidency.
One of the attendees, who is a member of a martyrs' families, told Shafaq News Agency, "I asked the National Union Party to solve their problems through dialogue and sit together away from tension and take into consideration the size of the party in the Region and Iraq and its influence at the present time."
He called for addressing the crisis with Lahore Jangi by voting inside the party to arrest him or not, according to the party's laws because “the situation needs calm and the street is awaiting the results that will appear soon, and we do not like things to develop into a bad situation, we will all be affected.”
He continued, "Today he spoke to us calmly and wisely, and his speech was good, and he confirmed that the situation now was due to hidden poisonous hands from inside and outside the Party that interfered and wanted chaos."
Earlier, a conflict raged between the main leaders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
Bafel Talabani and his cousin Lahore Sheikh Jangi Talabani, the PUK’S co-chairmen threatened each other of military confrontation.
Both put on a heightened military state of alert to impose the will on the other side.
The dispute has been irritating after Bafel Talabani decided to appoint a person of his side as the head of Zanyari security apparatus to lead the fight against terrorism.
The apparatus is considered the most powerful Kurdish intelligence and security service. It was led by Lahore Sheikh Jangi Talabani.
In February 2020, Bafel Talabani and Lahore Sheikh Jangi Talabani were elected as co-chairs of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, a first step of its kind for Kurdish parties.
It was agreed that the son of the Founder, Bafel, would conduct politics, while Sheikh Jangi would take responsibility for security files.
But it appears that Bafel's latest move will assert control over the security institutions within the PUK's sphere of influence.
During Jalal Talabani’s illness, Lahore Sheikh Jangi gradually took defacto steps to control social and youth fronts in addition to security institutions in the Party, until Bafel was unable to remove him, and eventually agreed with him to share the leadership.
However, Bafel Talabani’s move, supported by veteran leaders in the Party, pulled the rug out from Sheikh Jangi, and stripped the power over the institutions that had been under his control for years.
These fast-moving developments prompted the Iraqi President Barham Salih, who is a PUK leader, as well as American and Iranian parties to intervene, trying to contain any armed clash between cousins.
