Negotiating Peace in Iraq’s Disputed Territories: Modifying the Sinjar Agreement

Jan 24, 2021 | Shamiran Mako
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On Oct. 9, the federal government in Baghdad signed the Agreement on the Restoration of Stability and Normalization of the Situation in the District of Sinjar, a joint security agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over Sinjar, a Yazidi town in Iraq’s Nineveh Governorate that fell to the Islamic State’s onslaught in 2014, culminating in a genocide against its inhabitants. Strategically located in Nineveh’s northwestern region, Sinjar closely borders Syria’s al-Hasakah province to the northwest and Turkey’s Silopi/Sirnak province to the northeast. The town’s position in territory disputed by the federal government and the KRG shapes the competition over government control. While the agreement placates persistent tensions between Iraqi and Kurdish elites, it falls short of addressing local demands for an inclusive political settlement. Unless local minority populations become stakeholders alongside Iraq’s national and subnational governments, exclusive, top-down negotiations will continue to prevent conflict resolution in one of the country’s most fragile regions.