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We Should Remain Focused On Kirkuk
By: Dr Nazhad Hawramany
Switzerland
Aug 10, 2007
The date for referendum on the future of Kirkuk and other disputed Kurdistani
regions isn't getting closer. The referendum, as stipulated in article 140 of
the permanent Iraqi constitution, should take place no later than December 31st
2007.The Kurdish leadership so far has been steadfast in their insistence on the
respect of that date and the implementation of article 140 by the end of 2007.
The article 140, no doubt, constitutes a legal and
constitutional framework for solving this complex issue. Previous Iraqi
governments have always been hostile to Kurdish demands to to integrate Kirkuk
to Kurdish autonomy. After liberation of Iraq in April 2003, many Iraqi Arab
political factions including Arab Sunni political groups as well as some Shia
groups like Sadrists, showed their hostilities towards reversal of Arabization (
the campaign of ethnic cleansing of Kurds from Kirkuk and other strategic
Kurdish regions which reached its climax during the rule of Saddam Hussein) and
the prospect of integration of Kirkuk into Kurdistan Federal Region of Iraq.
Many neighbouring countries , especially those with Kurdish
populations of their own like Turkey, have been pursuing different means to
block the referendum and to thwart the efforts of Normalisation in Kirkuk, the
term used in the constitution to redress the ill effects of Arabization whereby
250´000 Kurds were expelled from Kirkuk and replaced by Arabs from southern and
central Iraqi tribes in the period from1968 to 2003.
Unfortunately the Iraq Study Group in their report about Iraq
( the so-called Baker-Hamilton report) and several reports by the International
Crisis Group, seemed to accommodate the views of countries which are
traditionally hostile to Kurdish issues, namely Turkey, and recommended delays
in holding the Kirkuk referendum. The arguments they bring forwards is that the
ethnic mix of Kirkuk is like a powder keg and that the referendum might ignite a
civil war in Kirkuk. they simply ignore the reality that in spite of the might
of American army and the thousands of Iraqi army and police troops, Iraq is
sliding into more violence and more sectarian strife, and that the Kurdistan
Federal Region is the only stable and secure region of Iraq. This is simply a
twisting of facts as the reality shows that the opposite is true, that holding
the referendum and the eventual integration of Kirkuk into Kurdistan federal
region is the real guarantee to stability and prosperity of Kirkuk.
Those who are trying to cry foul of the referendum are the
Sunni Arab insurgents , the followers of Shia cleric Mugtada Alsadr and the
Turkey-funded Turkmen front organisation. The referendum in itself is a
just and democratic way to solve the issue of Kirkuk. The Kurds did liberate
Kirkuk twice in 1991 and 2003, and still have the ability to control Kirkuk
within hours but they have chosen the path of moderation and constitutional
system to solve this issue. The argument that Turkmen and Arabs of Kirkuk will
be persecuted if Kirkuk integrated to Kurdistan Federal Region is flawed ,
Turkmen and Arabs already living within the jurisdiction of Kurdistan Federal
Region enjoy unprecedented political and cultural rights with freedom in
education in their mother tongue and freedom to have own newspapers, radio and
TV stations. If Kurds of Turkey had only 10% of those rights in Turkey the PKK
insurgency would have ceased to exist.
There is an alarming new element which probably will add to
the fatal mistakes of the coalition forces in Iraq. according to the media
reports, the USA and Britain, are sponsoring a UN security council resolution
which allows for more UN role in Iraq including some reference to the issue of
Kirkuk. The role of UN should be only helping in arranging the referendum and
sending observers to make sure that the referendum is fair and transparent. Any
attempt to involve the UN in a role to block the implementation of article 140
will have dangerous consequences on Iraqi stability in general and on the
positive role of Kurds in Iraqi politics and will pave the way for strengthening
of the Kurdish forces who are skeptical of current Kurdish commitment to a
unified Iraq.
The president of Kurdistan federal region, Mr. Massoud
Barzani, was very frank in a recent comment on efforts to delay the
implementation of article 140, when he said such an effort will backfire and
could ignite a real civil war in Iraq.
The American administration should not alienate its Kurdish
allies for Kurds judge their friends in Iraq and abroad based on their stance on
Kirkuk referendum. Kurds have already had a lot of bitter experiences of
back-stabbings and betrayals in the past from countries who claimed to be
friends of Kurds.
