According to Rudaw, Arshad Salehi reacted to the recent agreement between the Ministry of Peshmerga of the Kurdistan Region and the Ministry of Defense of Iraq to form two joint forces and the official order of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to deploy these joint forces in Kirkuk and the disputed areas. He strongly opposed the return of Peshmerga forces to Kirkuk that was under the control of the Kurdish forces before the Kurdistan Region referendum of independence in 2017.

Salehi stressed that he had previously prevented the return of the Peshmerga forces to Kirkuk and that he would not allow them to return to Kirkuk.

The representative noted that the silence of Turkmen parties and politicians over the return of the Peshmerga is surprising.

However, Shaxewan Abdullah, the winner candidate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the recent Iraqi parliamentary elections in Kirkuk, insists that the issue of the return of Peshmerga forces to the area as a joint force was agreed upon by Peshmerga and Iraqi Defense Ministry officials, stressing that the deal has been made and neither Salehi nor any other person is not in a legal position to prevent the implementation of the agreement and the deployment of Peshmerga forces in Kirkuk.

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