KurdistanObserver.com
Kurdistan Moving Forward Toward the Kirkuk Referendum
September 03, 2007
by Martin Zehr
The Conservative Voice
There is an authority designated in Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitutional that
provides a legal and political justification for going ahead with the Kirkuk
Referendum. These are the grounds for moving forward by the National Assembly of
the Kurdish Autonomous Region towards that end. The legal actions of the Kurdish
Regional Government do NOT require any updated statutory law to implement this.
The KRG is already fully empowered to proceed. There are many observations of
the current status of Kirkuk made in the book: THE FUTURE OF KURDISTAN IN IRAQ,
Edited by Brendan O’Leary, John McGarry and Khaled Salih, University of
Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2005. Many of the agreements reached have
worked toward preserving the legal authority of Kurdistan to move independently
towards the implementation of article 140. “In the 2005 parliamentary elections,
99% of them voted for Kurdish nationalist parties, and in the January 2005
referendum, 98% voted for an independent Kurdistan” in an article by Peter
Galbraith entitled: THE WAY TO GO IN IRAQ. This appears in the August 16th issue
of the New York Review of Books. This demonstrates the Kurdish popular mandate
for moving forward with the Kirkuk referendum.
The inclusion of Article 140 is an affirmation of the proposition that
Arabization by Saddam Hussein requires corrective action. One analyst Michael
Totten suggested: “The Peshmerga could take Kirkuk militarily any time the order
is given. But they’re holding back. The Kurdistan Regional Government says it
wants to take the city peacefully and with honor…. South of the Peshmerga line,
some towns with Sunni Arab majorities are forcibly evicting Shia Arabs at
gunpoint, with rocket launchers, and without compensation. The Kurdistan
Regional Government, by contrast, says it will financially compensate everyone
asked to leave. Even so, reversing one population transfer with another isn’t
right. The Kurds seem to understand this, given that they’re offering to pay
damages to the evicted. They might not even care about the city’s ethnic
composition if Kirkuk weren’t wracked with violence. But the city is a dangerous
place, and the aftershocks of Saddam’s divide-and-rule strategy are still
explosive.”
Logistical and demographical issues are being raised now as a substitute for the
complete implementation for Article 140. “Sadettin Ergec, a member of the Iraqi
parliament and head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, has said that while official
statistics put the number of Kurds who were forced to move out of Kirkuk at
around 250,000, more than 650,000 Kurds have resettled there since 2003.” There
is no desire to circumvent such matters, but one might fairly raise the issue if
the 650,000 are inclusive of solely non-Kirkuk Kurds or if they are family
members of former Kirkuk Kurds. Beyond that lies the issue of the impact of
Saddam Hussein’s Arabization on others and the fact that reparations are for the
entire Kurdish nation and not just those relocated or murdered. “A number of
alternatives have been introduced to hinder the implementation of Article 140.
The Kurdish Alliance in the Iraqi parliament has rejected a demand by the main
Sunni bloc in the Iraqi parliament to delay the implementation of Article 140 to
after the deadline that has been set for it. They have expressed their proposal
of making Kirkuk into a federal state in Iraq.”
At the same time, actions have also been taken to negate the impact of returning
Kurds to Kirkuk and to exclude them from the referendum process. “Many victims
of Saddam's ethnic cleansing campaign sought to return to the region, only to be
prevented by U.S. authorities. Many remain in tent-city limbo. Article 58 of the
March 8, 2004 Transitional Administrative Law sought to settle disputes in
Kirkuk by means of an Iraqi Property Claims Commission and "other relevant
bodies." In practice, however, successive Iraqi governments have done little,
creating suspicion among many Iraqi Kurds as to the central government's
intentions. The uncertainty over Kirkuk's status has impeded local development
and sidelined the issue of refugee resettlement.” “Until the December 2007
referendum, which the U.N. has the expertise to organize, it will be impossible
to know whether local residents wish Kirkuk to be absorbed into the Kurdistan
Regional Government. Many Kurds do, but others are afraid of being pushed aside
by established patronage networks and political machines imposed from outside
the city.” It is clear that no resolution exists if established Constitutional
mechanisms are not respected by all parties involved and the results of the
referendum must be validated and codified for the future. This goes beyond
issues of Kurdish dislocations and the intent of Article 140 is not simply to
give people back their houses. The consistency of approach by the KRG
illuminates intentions, motivations and aspirations for the future for all
peoples in the region. To protect the integrity of the referendum 6000 troops
have been sent to Kirkuk by the Kurdistan Region Guard.
The Kurdish Regional Government has worked within the institutional framework of
the Iraqi Constitutional process from the beginning. It has neither provoked any
particular sect or political organization of Iraq nor has it attempted to
undermine the sovereignty of the existing government. The promise of the Kurdish
Regional Government is stated unequivocally:
“Relations with Federal Iraq
The KRG will make every effort to put in place a democratic federal system in
Iraq, based on agreement and respect for all nationalities and religions. It
therefore supports democratic consensus in the political process.
- Recover Kirkuk and other areas peacefully through the democratic process and
rule of law
- Support the establishment of other federal regions in Iraq
- Implement constitutional articles that make Kurdish the second official
language in Iraq
- Implement provisions within the constitution regarding the Iraqi budget
- Organize KRG offices abroad within the framework of the Iraqi constitution
- Fight terrorism and violence in any form
- Work shoulder-to-shoulder to bring peace and stability
- Work to rebuild and develop Iraq”
It does so for the benefit of the Kurdish nation in an effort to peacefully
resolve conflicts and to present itself as a responsible party in the region. It
is fully within its rights to establish fair and just parameters in regards to
the rights and authority of the KRG and to be empowered as all governments in
the world with duly delegated authority. President Barzani of the Kurdish
Autonomous Region has not ruled out other options if the right of referendum is
denied to the people of Kirkuk to determine its disposition..
It is clear that some governments in the region, Turkey among them, are actively
engaging in an effort to sabotage the implementation of Article 140. It goes
without saying that such governments, like Turkey, have NO authority to
represent Turkmen in Kirkuk and have no legal entitlement to intervene in the
affairs of southern Kurdistan. Likewise, the Islamic Republic of Iran is not a
party that is represented under the existing body of law under the Transitional
Authority of Iraq.
At issue is whether the Kurdish nation is truly recognized by the international
community of nations, and whether it is truly empowered to act as designated in
the Iraqi Constitution. If Constitutional law is not a valid criterion for a
process to determine the legal integration of Kirkuk, one has to wonder what the
status of ANY issue affecting and/or falling under the jurisdiction of the
Kurdish Regional Government and its National Assembly is to be. This also
includes matters affecting the territorial integrity of the Kurdish Autonomous
Region, the Kurdistan Region Guard and the legal rights and Constitutional
authority of any governmental entity representing Kurds. If the goal is to
deprive the Kurdish nation of political power to establish its own government
and negate any authority it may be designated to have under the Iraqi
Constitution, this is surely the way to go about it. If that is the case, then,
it is surely the prerogative of the Kurdish nation to separate itself in such a
manner as to establish and defend its own national sovereignty and territorial
integrity. No occupying army or interim Constitution can authorize others to
negate the right to representation or the right to establish a government that
is fully empowered to act in behalf of the people.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 15.
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right
to change his nationality.
Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country,
directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government;
this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by
universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent
free voting procedures.
