It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the PKK could eventually take over Erbil. The Iraqi government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil signed a joint security agreement on Oct. 9, 2020, “to restore stability and normalize the situation in Sinjar,” the disputed mountainous district in northwestern Iraq largely populated by Iraq’s minority Yezidi population. The urgency of the deal—and the reason why the State Department and the United Nations both supported the talks—had less to do with Sinjar’s status as disputed territory between the governments in Baghdad and Erbil and more to do with a desire to shut-out the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).