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Turkoman
and Arab parties in Kirkuk are protesting against a
ruling by Iraq’s Independent Electoral Commission
that some 72,000 Kurds who have returned to the area
since the fall of Saddam Hussein will be able to use
their vote here.
The parties have written a letter to the election
commission asking for a speedy response to their
protest. During a meeting on January 21 at the
office of the Turkoman Justice Party office, parties
representing both Arabs and Turkoman said the
decision to allow the Kurds to vote should not be
put into practice because it would be unfair and
would have a negative effect on the election
results.
But Mufeed al-Jazairi, Iraq’s culture minister and
also a prominent candidate standing on the Iraqi
Communist Party list, insisted that the Kurds had
the right to vote in Kirkuk under the terms of
Iraq’s interim constitution. Article 58 of the
Transitional Administrative Law states that all
Iraqis displaced under Saddam's regime have the
right to return to their homes.
As part of Saddam’s policy of “Arabisation”, Kurds
living in northern Iraq were forcibly removed from
their homes, while Arabs originally from southern
regions were resettled in the Kirkuk area to change
the ethnic balance. Since the end of Baathist rule,
Kurds have been returning to their original areas.
The process has sparked tension and disputes over
the ownership of homes and lands. The issue has a
broader political significance since Kirkuk – which
lies just outside the three provinces that make the
Kurdish region - is something of a prize because of
its oil resources. Both Kurds and Arabs would like
to claim it as their own, while the Turkoman, a
significant local minority, tries to secure their
own position.
No bylines are given because of concerns for the
security of IWPR reporters.
http://www.iwpr.net
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