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Kurdistan President: Article 140 must be
implemented in within specified period
18.2.2008
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Barzani: The decision of postponing Article 140 was
not easy to the Kurdish People.
February 18, 2008
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan Region 'Iraq',-- Iraq
Kurdistan region president Massoud Barzani received
in Salahadin Resort, a delegation from the European
Union headed by Mrs. Anna Maria Gomez.
In the meeting which was also attended by Elika
Ozetalo the EU Ambassador in Iraq,www.ekurd.net
Anna Maria Gomez the EU
Commissioner for Iraqi Affairs explained the
delegation’s aim from the visit which is to be learn
more about situation in Iraq in general and
Kurdistan Region in particular.
Gomez raised few questions on the relations between
the Federal Government and the Kurdistan regional
government KRG especially about Article 140 of the
Iraqi constitution and the UN’s role in the
implementation of the above mentioned article. |
Massoud Barzani, the President of the autonomous Regional
Government of Kurdistan 'Iraq' |
Barzani talked about the implementation of Article
140; he said “The decision of postponing Article 140
was not easy to the Kurdish People and the KNA”, He
emphasized the necessity of implementing this
article within the specific period which is 6
months.
The implementation of Article 140 is for the good of
Iraq and Kurdistan and the stability in the region.
On the other side, they discussed the Iraqi-US
relations and ways of developing these relations in
the future.
The EU role in Iraq and Kurdistan Region was also
discussed, Gomez promised to enhance the EU
activities in Iraq and in Kurdistan.
Article 140 provides for normalization of Kirkuk
through having back its Kurdish and Turcoman
inhabitants and repatriating the Arabs relocated in
the city during the former regime's time to their
original provinces in central and southern Iraq.
The article also calls for conducting a census to be
followed by a referendum to let the inhabitants
decide whether they would like Kirkuk to be annexed
to the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region or having
it as an independent province.
Kirkuk city is historically a Kurdish city
and it lies just south border of the Kurdistan
autonomous region, the population is a mix of
majority Kurds and minority of Arabs,www.ekurd.net
Christians and
Turkmen. lies 250 km northeast of Baghdad. Kurds
have a strong cultural and emotional attachment to Kirkuk, which they call "the Kurdish Jerusalem.", Kirkuk is historically a Kurdish city.
The article currently stipulates that all Arabs in
Kirkuk be returned to their original locations in
southern and central Iraqi areas, and formerly
displaced residents returned to Kirkuk.
The former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein forced
over 250,000 Kurdish residents to give up their
homes to Arabs in the 1970s, to "Arabize" the city
and the region's oil industry.
Under article 140 of Iraq’s constitution a
referendum must be held on whether the city secedes
to control of the Kurdistan region al government KRG.
A referendum, provided for in the Iraqi
constitution, was scheduled to be held by the end of
the past year on including the city into the
Kurdistan region, but the UN mediated to
extend its time to July 2008.
Some information for this report was provided by
Pukmedia com | VOI | Agencies
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