Kirkuk Kurds Watch Kurdistan Polls With Indifference
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 11:53 pmSULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – Cigarette vendor Kamal Omar does not believe that parliamentary elections this month in the Kurdistan Region will change anything for Kirkuk, the energy-rich province at the heart of a territorial dispute between Iraq’s autonomous Kurds and the Arab central government in Baghdad.
“The political parties have assured us that nothing will be done for Kirkuk,” Omar said in a sarcastic jibe at Kurdish parties. He claimed they only pay lip service to Kurds living in multiethnic Kirkuk, which contains immense oil reserves and is claimed by Iraq’s Kurds, Arabs and Turkemen.
Kurds like Omar would like to see the province – or at least parts of it – incorporated into the calm and prosperous Kurdistan Region, a self-rule Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq.
Although taking ownership of Kirkuk remains a campaign slogan for political parties in Kurdistan’s September 21 parliamentary polls, Kurds in Kirkuk say the issue is becoming marginalized.
They say they have heard many promises before, and see the outcome of the polls making no difference to their lives.
“We thought that after the demise of Saddam Hussein’s regime Kirkuk would become a Kurdish city, but all the promises of political parties have been broken,” said Hidayat Ali, a displaced Kurd from Kirkuk living in the Kurdistan Region.
According to Article 140 of the 2005 constitution that was drawn up two years after Saddam was ousted, Arab or Kurdish ownership of disputed areas like Kirkuk will be determined by a referendum.
But steps to be taken before the plebiscite, such as returning Kurds displaced by Saddam to Kirkuk and relocating Arabs brought in by his regime to swell the Arab population, have never been completed.
“All parties have realized that the problem of Kirkuk and article 140 is way bigger than election promises. That is why people in disputed territories are reluctant to vote in the elections,” said an administrative official in Kirkuk, who preferred to remain anonymous.
Latif Faraj, a journalist from Kirkuk, said that political parties should beware of ignoring Kirkuk because, “People from Sulaimani and Erbil will not allow them to keep Kirkuk out of their political agenda.”
During the 2009 election campaign, most political parties placed huge importance on Kirkuk and implementation of article 140.
“Kirkuk is completely forgotten as a part of Kurdistan,” said the head of the Qela list, Sami Jaf. “Kirkuk should become an independent province,” he said.
Jalawla District director Anwar Hussein said it was clear to him that Kurdistan officials no longer care much about Kirkuk.
“The withdrawal of Peshmarga forces in August 2008 from Jalawla showed us how much the Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan care about us,” Hussein said. “The KDP and PUK do not want us.”
“I have been the district director for the last 10 years but none of the Kurdish parties has ever visited my office to talk about the needs of the people,” Hussein complained.
“The political parties have assured us that nothing will be done for Kirkuk,” Omar said in a sarcastic jibe at Kurdish parties. He claimed they only pay lip service to Kurds living in multiethnic Kirkuk, which contains immense oil reserves and is claimed by Iraq’s Kurds, Arabs and Turkemen.
Kurds like Omar would like to see the province – or at least parts of it – incorporated into the calm and prosperous Kurdistan Region, a self-rule Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq.
Although taking ownership of Kirkuk remains a campaign slogan for political parties in Kurdistan’s September 21 parliamentary polls, Kurds in Kirkuk say the issue is becoming marginalized.
They say they have heard many promises before, and see the outcome of the polls making no difference to their lives.
“We thought that after the demise of Saddam Hussein’s regime Kirkuk would become a Kurdish city, but all the promises of political parties have been broken,” said Hidayat Ali, a displaced Kurd from Kirkuk living in the Kurdistan Region.
According to Article 140 of the 2005 constitution that was drawn up two years after Saddam was ousted, Arab or Kurdish ownership of disputed areas like Kirkuk will be determined by a referendum.
But steps to be taken before the plebiscite, such as returning Kurds displaced by Saddam to Kirkuk and relocating Arabs brought in by his regime to swell the Arab population, have never been completed.
“All parties have realized that the problem of Kirkuk and article 140 is way bigger than election promises. That is why people in disputed territories are reluctant to vote in the elections,” said an administrative official in Kirkuk, who preferred to remain anonymous.
Latif Faraj, a journalist from Kirkuk, said that political parties should beware of ignoring Kirkuk because, “People from Sulaimani and Erbil will not allow them to keep Kirkuk out of their political agenda.”
During the 2009 election campaign, most political parties placed huge importance on Kirkuk and implementation of article 140.
“Kirkuk is completely forgotten as a part of Kurdistan,” said the head of the Qela list, Sami Jaf. “Kirkuk should become an independent province,” he said.
Jalawla District director Anwar Hussein said it was clear to him that Kurdistan officials no longer care much about Kirkuk.
“The withdrawal of Peshmarga forces in August 2008 from Jalawla showed us how much the Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan care about us,” Hussein said. “The KDP and PUK do not want us.”
“I have been the district director for the last 10 years but none of the Kurdish parties has ever visited my office to talk about the needs of the people,” Hussein complained.