SINJAR — Iranian-backed militias of Hashd al-Shaabi have recently began another campaign targeting the Yezidi Kurdish population of Sinjar in north of Iraq: imposing the Arabic language on the locals, said the mayor of the city.
“The militias affiliated to the Hashd al-Shaabi force the people in Sinjar to speak in Arabic, making Kurdish as an illegal language to be spoken,” Mahma Khalil told BasNews.
He emphasised that the attempt is a blatant violation of the Iraqi constitution which defines Kurdish and Arabic both as the official languages in Iraq.
“What the Hashd al-Shaabi is doing in Sinjar is similar to Baath regime’s anti-Kurdish campaigns.”
Khalil believes that the best solution would be establishing a joint administration between Erbil and Baghdad to replace Hashd al-Shaabi and PKK rule in the area.