Kirkuk’s Arabs demand suspension of provincial council
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kirkuk’s Arab factions on Tuesday called on Baghdad to intervene to suspend the provincial council in a bid to halt “unilateral” actions of the Kurdish parties.
The Arab factions accused the Kurdish parties of imposing their will on the province and called for the Iraqi parliament to freeze the provincial council.
Slamming the recent agreement struck between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) over the governorship, they demanded the three main components of the province – Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen – reach a consensus together on important issues facing the disputed province.
On Tuesday, the KDP and PUK signed a broad four-year agreement that included the issue of Kirkuk. They agreed to negotiate with Baghdad for the return of the Peshmerga to Kirkuk, after which they will discuss the appointment of a new governor.
Rakan al-Jabouri is serving as acting governor. The Arab was appointed by Baghdad after the former Kurdish governor Najmaldin Karim was sacked for his role in the independence referendum and raising the Kurdistan flag in Kirkuk.
The KDP has apparently agreed in principle to the PUK’s demand that the governor of the province be a PUK member.
The Turkmen are also upset and have demanded the post. They argue that both Kurds and Arabs have held the position and now it is their turn.
Iraqi President Barham Salih, himself a member of the PUK, addressed the problem of Kirkuk in a sit down with local media on Monday.
He said that cooperation between the three main ethnic groups and the governments in Erbil and Baghdad is the only way to resolve the long-standing issues.
“Kirkuk is a sensitive topic. It requires a drastic and urgent resolution,” he said. “The current condition cannot persist. There are many variables that we do not want to cause a storm in the situation in Kirkuk and the disputed territories.”
The disputed territories are defined under Article 140 of the constitution, which dictates that their status must be resolved through normalization, conducting a census, and eventually holding a referendum that gives the people a choice to either join the Kurdistan Region or stick with Iraq.
Successive governments have failed to implement the article.
Salih called for a “Kirkuki solution” that considers the security and economy of the people in the troubled city.
“Just go to Kirkuk, this rich city, it is like a city that doesn’t have oil. The people of Kirkuk only receive the smoke from the oil, not its revenues while all praise and demand Kirkuk. Come, let us agree upon the framework of agreement,” the president implored.
Peshmerga and Iraqi forces are currently conducting field surveys as the first step towards making an agreement to secure the province jointly.
The Peshmerga commander in Pirde, where Kurdish and Iraqi forces clashed in October 2017, said the surveying is progressing “slowly” due to mistrust between the two sides.