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The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) wants to take diplomatic and constructive steps towards reconciliation between the ruling parties of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), PUK president Bafel Jalal Talabani said on Friday in a statement calling on all political parties in KRI to collaborate and “fight together”.
The statement came after US envoys Brett McGurk and Nicholas Grainger’s Tuesday visit to the presidents of the PUK, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) during ongoing conflicts between the KDP and the PUK over the issues such as the region’s parliamentary elections and local income of the provinces.
“The current situation in the region is undesirable and the current form of politics does not serve anyone,” said Talabani, noting that the PUK wants to guide the situation towards peace.
The KRI is politically divided into two administrations, with the KDP ruling in the Erbil (Hewler) and Duhok Governorates, while the left-wing PUK controls Sulaymaniyah Governorate to the east.
The PUK and KDP work together in the KRG, the official executive body of the autonomous region, but increasing tensions between the pair recently led PUK party members to boycott weekly KRG meetings, resulting in major unrest in the region.
