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Referendum in Kirkuk postponed by two
years !?
1.3.2007 |
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March 1, 2007
News about delay is reported
in Iraqi paper but has not been officially
confirmed. Baghdad and Ankara, the referendum’s main
opponent, agree on a later date. Issue will likely
be discussed when Kurdish president talks to Turkish
leaders in upcoming meeting.
Kirkuk, Iraq-Kurdistan region border ,-- The
referendum on the status of the city of Kirkuk,
which was originally scheduled to take place later
this year, has been postponed for two years, Iraqi
newspaper Azzaman reported yesterday. According to
the paper the decision was taken by Iraqi
authorities with the agreement of Turkey which
opposes the vote.
Kirkuk residents were scheduled to vote on whether
to join the autonomous Kurdish region or remain in a
Sunni province.
The decision to have the referendum postponed was
taken during a visit on February 21 by Iraqi
Vice-President Adel Abdulmahdi to Ankara.
After the Iraqi cabinet adopted a draft oil law on
Monday, Kurds seemed to have given in also on this
issue, most likely as a result of pressures from
their US allies who do not want further clashes in
Iraq and with Iraq’s neighbours.
In recent days tensions between Kurdistan and Turkey
have mounted. Turkish authorities have warned that
they might use military force if Kurdistan went
ahead with plans to annex Kirkuk.
The bone of contention remains the area’s
hydrocarbons; 70 per cent of Iraq’s gas is located
in the area.
The fear is that if a referendum hands over the city
to the Kurds, they might have enough resources to
seek independence from the rest of Iraq.
Such a prospect is abhorrent to Turkey, worried that
it might further accentuate Kurdish nationalism
within its own borders.
Arabs living in the city are also opposed to the
vote. The same is true for Turkmen who have started
to complain that they are suffering from
intimidation and attempts to force them to leave
their homes.
Sources in Kirkuk told AsiaNews that an official
announcement about the postponement could be made
during an imminent meeting between Kurdish and
Turkish leaders.
Two days ago the President of Kurdistan, Massoud
Barzani, requested a meeting with Turkish leaders to
discuss the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Ankara
accuses Iraqi Kurds of protecting PKK fighters. Oil
exploration and development in the Kurds’ autonomous
region is also expected to be on the agenda.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said
that he was open to dialogue.
asianews it
**
The former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein forced
about 250,000 Kurdish residents to give up their
homes to Arabs in the 1970s, to "Arabize" the city
and the region's oil industry.
Kirkuk city is a Kurdistani city and it lies just
south border of the Kurdistan autonomous region and
it is not under the full control of Kurdistan
Regional Government administration, its population
is a mix of majority Kurds and minority of Arabs,
Turkmen.
Based on Iraq's Constitution a referendum is to be
held in late 2007 to decide whether the oil-rich
Kurdish province should be
annexed to the safe semiautonomous Kurdistan region
in Iraq's north.
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