”In recent years, there has been ongoing efforts of coordination between Autonomous Administration of Nort and East of Syria and the Kurdistan Region. These continuous efforts were as part of the joint fight against ISIS and to ensure peace and security in the region. As a result of this coordination, many tensions on the border were resolved peacefully.”

”Our forces did not carry out any unilateral attack on any of Peshmerga bases and positions in vicinity of Sihêla. There is no reason for our units who are responsible to protect Rojava borders to attack security forces of Kurdistan Regional Government. There are various media reports portraying the situation on the border as a chaos by false claims. In fact, what happened was the result of a lack of communication and coordination between us and the relevant authorities and institutions in the Kurdistan Region. We, as the People’s Defense Units, respect autonomy of Kurdistan Region of Iraq and call on the Kurdistan Regional Government to abandon their aggressive and provocative stance and rhetoric towards AANES. All issues must be resolved through dialogue between the two sides.”

General Command of People’s Defense Units | December 17, 2020