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Kurdish politician proposes segregating Arabs, Kurds in Iraq

Mohsin Saadoun, an Iraqi member of parliament for the Kurdistan Democratic Party, believes Arabs and Kurds can no longer coexist in mixed villages after the Islamic State’s assault, which he says was supported by local Sunni Arabs.
Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, who fled the violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, take part in a demonstration at the Iraqi-Turkish border crossing in Zakho district of the Dohuk Governorate of the Iraqi Kurdistan province August 17, 2014. Demonstrators demanded protection and evacuation from Iraq to safer areas such as Europe and the United States. Iraq has been plunged into its worst violence since the peak of a sectarian civil war in 2006-2007, with Sunni fighters led by the Islamic Stat

DAHUK, Iraq — Yazidis and Muslim Kurds displaced from their homes in Mosul governorate by the Islamic State (IS) have expressed reluctance to resume life amid their Arab neighbors, many of whom they accuse of supporting the extremist group. The stories of betrayal by Arab neighbors are numerous among the internally displaced persons interviewed by Al-Monitor. Although there was praise for the Arabs who helped them, many also said they were few and that most of the Arabs supported IS.

A displaced Kurd from a village in the outskirts of Telkaif told Al-Monitor, “The difference between IS and our Arab neighbors is that IS wanted to control our region and expand its power, while our Arab neighbors — in addition to their support to IS fighters in controlling our areas — entered our houses and stole our cars and belongings. This is why we cannot live with them anymore.”

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