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Analysts argue that it would be difficult to ignore
the present political structures in the Kurdish
areas, but a decision on federalism should be made
by an elected Iraqi government. Following the
collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the
first world war, the 1920 Treaty of Sevres carved up
the Turk's territories among the Allied powers, and
created a special autonomous homeland for the Kurds.
Three years later, the treaty was abrogated and
replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne, which waived
Turkey's right to grant autonomy to the Kurds.
The new treaty decreed the division of the Kurdish
region among Turkey, Iraq and Syria.
Currently, some 25 million Kurds - mostly Sunni
Muslims - still lack a political or legal status
that satisfies their quest for independence.
Iraqi Kurds have been subjected to two devastating
forms of violence: inter-party feuds and outside
onslaughts.
In 1946, the Iraqi Kurdish leader Mustafa al-Barazani
founded the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and
called for an independent state.
Nearly 15 years later, political aspirations were
ignited by the rebellion of 1961 against the central
government of Iraq.
The Iraqi president at the time, Abd al-Karim Qasim,
promptly crushed the revolt. This highlighted the
ongoing struggle between successive Iraqi
governments and the Kurds.
Throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s, Iraqi Kurds
staged several major rebellions against the Iraq
government - often with US encouragement - only to
be left to face the consequences alone once
defeated.
In March last year they joined US and British forces
to topple president Saddam Hussein's government.
At present, four Iraqi Kurds are members of the
interim Iraqi Governing Council (IGC).
Political demands
Recently Iraqi Kurds have accelerated their efforts
to fulfil their political objectives in Iraq.
A draft proposal entitled Transitional Law was
submitted for review in December 2003 by the four
Kurdish IGC members.
The proposal states that Kurdish self-rule areas
should consist of the four provinces of Irbil,
Kirkuk, Dahouk and Sulymanya, as well as the Kurdish
areas in the Dyala province.
The document asserts that Kurdistan shall have its
own flag, insignia and a national anthem. It also
demands the recognition of the Kurdish language as
an official language, in addition to Arabic, in
greater Iraq.
In a statement published in a Kurdish newspaper, KDP
leader and IGC member Masud al-Barazani briefed a
visiting Arab League delegation in Irbil last
December about Kurdish concerns.
"What the Kurdish people call for is voluntary
federalism within a democratic multi-party Iraq
where the Kurds enjoy equal rights with, but not
subordinated to, the Iraqi Arabs," he said.
Another prominent Kurdish member of the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Nushirwan Mustafa,
expressed support for a Kurdish entity within a
federal Iraqi republic.
Mustafa said that he believes: "The proper way to
build a new Iraq with its multi-ethnic and
multi-sectarian character is by agreement on a
socio-political and legal contract that would
reflect the will of all the people, not the will of
the majority, be it ethnic, religious or sectarian."
Among other demands, Iraqi Kurds are seeking a
political mandate that will enable them to hold
economic, commercial and cultural agreements with
foreign countries.
The proposal further advises that regional Kurdish
laws should supersede central government laws and
that any central laws that were not approved by the
Kurdistan parliament should not be valid in the
Kurdistan region.
Moreover, Kurds in Iraq have sought to attain full
control over the natural resources of their
provinces, including oil-rich areas in the city of
Kirkuk.
The draft proposal called for abrogating all the
decrees and laws made by the previous Iraqi
government, aiming at altering the ethnic
composition in Dyala, Kirkuk, Mosul, Salahadin and
Irbil, where Kurds are the majority.
Constraints to federalism
Under the current political situation in Iraq, there
are already signs of resistance to the Kurdish draft
proposal from various political and religious
groups.
Both Sunni and Shia religious figures have rejected
Kurdish attempts to divide the country into what
they describe as "federal entities".
"We all belong to one country," Mugtada al-Sadr, an
influential Shia leader, told his followers during a
Friday prayer sermon.
"The north cannot be separated from the south
because we are all Iraqis, the Arab is an Iraqi and
the Kurd is an Iraqi," al-Sadr said.
Sunni figures have also expressed the same message
of opposition to the Kurdish proposal.
In an attempt to diffuse the tension caused by the
Kurdish proposal, IGC member Adnan Pachachi told
reporters: "In principle, we have accepted the
federalism proposal, but the details have to be
discussed and clarified during the writing of the
Iraqi constitution."
According to the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper,
the US wants to keep the status quo in the Kurdish
areas until the transfer of power to an Iraqi
government is finalised.
This, according to the Kurds, would further
complicate their situation.
Analysts argue that it would be difficult to ignore
the present political structures in the Kurdish
areas, but a decision on federalism should be made
by an elected Iraqi government.
One step closer?
On 8 March 2004 the IGC signed an interim Iraqi
constitution, declaring it to be "a decisive day in
the history of the new Iraq".
Al-Barazani said: "Nobody gets everything they
wanted, but there is no doubt that this document
will strengthen Iraqi unity in a way never seen
before.
"This is the first time that we Kurds feel that we
are citizens of Iraq," he said.
The interim constitution enshrines Iraqi Kurds'
demands for autonomy in three northern provinces and
guarantees minority rights.
For days, the Kurdish population of Kirkuk took to
the streets in celebration, although the interim
constitution does not rule definitively on the
future of their city or Kurdish autonomy.
Observers say that the relevant provisions of the
interim constitution do not automatically lead to an
independent Kurdistan.
"They are going to have a nasty hangover when they
wake up in the morning," a western official told the
British newspaper The Guardian, referring to the
jubilant Kurds.
"They clearly have not read the new law carefully
enough."
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