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A
constitutional issue of Kirkuk. By Khaled Salih |
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: bitterlemons-international - Edition 18 Volume, 5. May
10, 2007 |
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A constitutional issue of Kirkuk.
17.5.2007
By Khaled Salih |
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May 17, 2007
Many people, with or without a connection to Iraq,
to Kurdistan or to Kirkuk, seem to have a ready-made
opinion regarding the way to solve the Kirkuk issue.
Some say let past injustice be past injustice and
live with the new reality. Some compare the
situation in Kirkuk with states absorbing
immigrants, arguing that to demand any change in
Kirkuk is immoral, unjust and against basic human
rights. Others label the demands of the Kurds on
Kirkuk as irredentism or an obvious process of
annexation.
In the case of Kurdistan, we confront the
Arabization of Kurdish areas. Arabization was a
deliberate political strategy to change the identity
of target areas and cities, not a consequence of
movements of people. De-Arabization requires a
counter political settlement agreed upon by Iraq's
major political forces.
Kirkuk, together with other disputed territories,
has become a constitutional issue in post-Saddam
Iraq. Article 140 (2) of Iraq's constitution,
endorsed by 82 percent of the country's voters in a
referendum in October 2005, provides a clear roadmap
for resolving this issue. It lays out a three-phase
process, beginning with normalization, census and
referendum. |
Khaled Salih is Kurdistan Regional Government
spokesman. He is also a senior lecturer in Middle
East politics at the University of Southern Denmark.
He is co-editor (with Brendan O'Leary and John
McGarry) of The Future of Kurdistan in Iraq
(University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005). The views
expressed here are personal. |
Normalization refers to
changing the administrative boundaries of Arabized
areas back to the pre-1968 borders, that is to say
the date before Arabization became an official
policy of the Baath party, and enabling people to
return to their areas of origin. Census is the next
step. It will determine who will be entitled to vote
in the final phase--a referendum to be carried out
no later than December 31, 2007 with the objective
of determining the boundaries of each administrative
unit. In the case of Kirkuk and other Arabized
areas, the vote will focus on belonging to the
Kurdistan
region or not.
Many argue that the issue of Kirkuk could determine
the fate of Iraq as a newly recreated state. Some
would say that if this roadmap, as laid out in the
constitution, is implemented, the Kurdistan region
will face unprecedented difficulties both
internationally and regionally. Kurdish leaders
argue that postponing this process, especially the
referendum, will by no means lead to an easier
solution. Rather, honoring the constitutional
timetable is the federal government's obligation as
well as a condition for its survival as a coalition
government. Thus one reason for the Kurdish
leadership's unwillingness to delay the process is
to avoid a constitutional crisis. Once you open up
the constitution for such a
dramatic change, several issues, including
federalism and the powers of the regions, will be
subject to change.
Another argument is that the issue of Kirkuk is not
about oil revenues. The Kurdistan Regional
Government has agreed to share all oil revenues.
Control and management of currently-producing oil
fields is already settled in Article 112 of the
constitution: the federal government will take
responsibility together with producing regions and
governorates, and not the KRG alone. For oil
revenues from future fields, the KRG has proposed a
revenue-sharing mechanism throughout Iraq, including
potential fields in Kirkuk. If adopted by Iraq's
Council of Representatives, the oil revenue issue is
not behind Kurdish insistence on the implementation
of the constitutional mechanism for Kirkuk.
What has become obvious in the last three years is
that the focus of Kurdish leaders and opinion-makers
in Kurdistan is on the issue of justice and rights.
Until now several thousands returnees have been
patiently waiting, in awful camps, for a peaceful
settlement of the issue. Returnees have not attacked
people who still occupy their properties and
belongings. People seem to have accepted the idea
that what has been taken way from them by force must
be returned to them in a legal, peaceful and
constitutional way. Among the returnees there is no
obvious desire for revenge. On the contrary, many
have shown a remarkable understanding that people
who were part of the Arabization program should be
compensated and provided with safety, protection and
security as well as jobs and re-housing programs.
Politically, the Kurdish leadership and ordinary
citizens seem to have accepted the idea that a
peaceful settlement in Kirkuk and other Arabized
areas is the only way forward, as provided by the
constitution. There is also a great degree of
awareness that the constitutional mechanisms also
mean political uncertainties, since no one can
predict with absolute certainty the outcome of any
referendum.
The most important message from Kurdistan is to
avoid any violent clash over Kirkuk and other
Arabized areas. Many in Kurdistan argue that
patience and a peaceful resolution are needed to
convince all inhabitants of these areas that joining
the KRG administration is a viable alternative.
Discussion is well underway to ensure that once
Kirkukis decide to join the KRG, an inclusive
power-sharing arrangement will help to ease any
potential tension. The KRG has already absorbed many
Christian and other displaced persons. The KRG also
has a similar internal power-sharing formula
according to which diverse political actors have
meaningful representation in the parliament and
government.
Khaled Salih is Kurdistan Regional Government
spokesman. He is also a senior lecturer in Middle
East politics at the University of Southern Denmark.
He is co-editor (with Brendan O'Leary and John
McGarry) of The Future of Kurdistan in Iraq
(University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005). The views
expressed here are personal.
bitterlemons-international org
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