Nov 19, 2007

Iraq: Status of Kirkuk


The Iraqi Parliament will open an investigation to inquire about the delay on the status of Kirkuk, which according to the Iraqi constitution a referendum on the future status of the city was to be held by the end of 2007.

The Iraqi Parliament will open an investigation to inquire about the delay on the status of Kirkuk, which according to the Iraqi constitution a referendum on the future status of the city was to be held by the end of 2007. 

Below is an article published by Today’s Zaman:

Iraq's parliament has ordered an inquiry into the delay of a referendum over whether the oil-rich city of Kirkuk will join the largely autonomous Kurdish region in the north. 

The Iraqi constitution requires that a referendum on the future status of the city be held by the end of this year [2007] to determine whether it will remain under Baghdad's control, become part of the Kurdish region or gain autonomy from both.

"Four years have passed, and the referendum should have been held by now, but successive governments have done nothing," Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said. "Yet we do understand that there were obstacles, such as security challenges and bureaucracy." 

Qadir Aziz, a spokesman for Massoud Barzani, who governs the Kurdish region, said the delay "is not to the Kurds' benefit."

The head of the Kirkuk city council on Saturday [17 November 2007] accused the central government of intentionally stalling the process, saying Baghdad's Arab-dominated government stood to gain from the delay. Following the accusations of the Kirkuk city council and others, the Iraqi parliament announced a decision the same day to open an investigation into the delay. 

The constitution also calls for a census to be held in Kirkuk by the end of 2007 to determine how many Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen reside in the city. Iraqi officials confirmed Saturday that the census and referendum have been postponed until next year.

Ankara also believes the planned referendum should not take place without reaching a consensus among the ethnic groups of Kirkuk -- namely Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen. Kirkuk, a multi-ethnic mixing pot of Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Turkmen and Armenians, has plenty of oil, but may not have much time left to avoid being dragged into Iraq's intractable cycle of sectarian bloodshed, analysts fear. Kurdish nationalists want Kirkuk included in their semi-autonomous region and the referendum held by the year's end. But Arabs and Turkmen fear they will be pushed out of the city if the vote goes ahead and want the referendum either stalled or put off for good. So far there has been no sign of a census -- due by the end of July [2008] -- or other important milestones like a "normalization" process mandated under article 140 of Iraq's 2005 constitution. 

Tens of thousands of Kurds and non-Arabs fled Kirkuk in the 1980s and 1990s when Saddam's government implemented its "Arabization" policy. They were replaced by pro-government Arabs from the mainly Shiite south, after Saddam accused the Kurds of siding with Iran in the 1980-1988 war with Tehran.

Now, the Iraqi government has begun resettling some of those Arabs in their home regions, making room for thousands of Kurds who have gradually returned to Kirkuk since Saddam's ousting. The plan is said to be voluntary, and Arabs who agree to it are paid $15,500 and given a piece of property in their regions of origin.