ERBIL () - Kurdistan Region Peshmerga Affairs Minister Shorsh Ismail on Monday declared the full unification of the Peshmerga forces a historic achievement, saying years of work had transformed a long-held national aspiration into an institutional military structure operating under a single ministry and command.
Speaking at the Peshmerga unification ceremony on Sept. 21, Ismail said the people of Kurdistan and the Peshmerga had reached a turning point in the development of the force.
He announced that the process of bringing the Peshmerga together within a national framework under the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs had been completed, describing the outcome as the realization of a goal pursued over many years.
"A unified national army is the guardian of the people, the land and the homeland,"Ismail said.
The new structure places the Peshmerga within a unified command-and-control system under the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs, completing the broader process of reorganizing the forces under ministry authority. The ministry had already announced earlier this month that full unification and reorganization had been completed.
From Separate Structures to Unified Command
Ismail said the process had been guided from the beginning by what he described as a detailed, academic and modern roadmap forming part of the wider reform program.
The effort was aimed at creating a professional military institution in which the Peshmerga would function as a national force rather than through separate structures.
The minister said the process had faced significant obstacles, including longstanding unresolved issues as well as political and security complexities.
"As a national team within the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs, we succeeded in overcoming every obstacle and achieving a major victory for the people of Kurdistan,"he said.
The ministry, he added, maintained continuous internal coordination while also working with international partners as the restructuring advanced.
Under the new organization, the Peshmerga forces have been arranged into 11 military divisions, two support forces, one commando unit and two military regional commands.
The ministry has said the broader reform places forces within a hierarchy of brigades, divisions and regional commands operating through unified command and control.
Ismail said the completed structure would give the Kurdistan Region a modern and professional national force serving under the Kurdistan flag and operating exclusively through the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs.
A National Institution
Throughout his address, Ismail presented the unification as more than an organizational change.
He described the Peshmerga as a national asset whose institutional development was closely tied to the security and future of the people of Kurdistan.
The purpose of unification, he said, was to embody that institution in a single Kurdistan force capable of protecting the population and territory through a professional military structure.
Ismail congratulated the people of Kurdistan, Peshmerga personnel and the families of those killed in service, linking the achievement to generations of sacrifice.
He said the objective pursued over decades had been to create an institution strong enough to serve as a lasting "fortress of security"for the people of Kurdistan.
The minister traced that aspiration back to 1976 in the mountains of Kurdistan, saying a dream that began under difficult circumstances had now taken institutional form.
His remarks placed particular emphasis on the sacrifices made in pursuit of that goal, saying many had given their lives on the front lines.
From Reform to Operation
With the structural phase declared complete, the significance of the ceremony lies in the shift from the process of unification toward the operation of the Peshmerga through its new command structure.
The Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs has described the completion of unification as the beginning of a new phase in which the reorganized force will function through its military divisions, support formations and two regional commands.
For Ismail, Monday's ceremony marked the point at which years of negotiation, planning and institutional restructuring became an operational reality.
The minister characterized that outcome as both a military achievement and the fulfillment of a national objective: a Peshmerga force brought together under one ministry, one command structure and one institutional framework.
This article was updated on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, at 11:54am.
