Council members need security guarantees before returning to Kirkuk: MP
A Kurdish lawmaker on Thursday said that members of the Kirkuk Provincial Council (KPC) would not be able to return to Kirkuk if their safety was not guaranteed.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A Kurdish lawmaker on Thursday said that members of the Kirkuk Provincial Council (KPC) would not be able to return to Kirkuk if their safety was not guaranteed.
“The elections results of 2014 in Kirkuk show that the Governor post is to be held by Kurds as they are the majority and elected eight Kurdish lawmakers [to the Iraqi parliament],” Shakhawan Abdulla told Kurdistan 24.
On Oct. 16, Iraqi Forces along with the Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militia launched a military operation and took over Kirkuk and other disputed territories which had been under the protection of the Kurdish Peshmerga Forces over the past few years.
The offensive led to the displacement of over 170,000 people from disputed territories, mainly from Kirkuk, to the Kurdistan Region.
Security in Kirkuk is currently under the control of the Iraqi Forces and Shia militias which many of the KPC members who relocated to Erbil and Sulaimani, namely the Kurds, see as a serious threat to their lives for their role in including Kirkuk in the Sep. 25 referendum in the Kurdistan Region.
“The return of council members to Kirkuk means accepting the status quo and what happened on Oct. 16,” Abdulla said.
He mentioned that even if it became possible for the KPC members to return, their security and safety should be guaranteed.
Kirkuk is an oil-rich province located in the south of the Kurdistan Region and north of Iraq. It is a multi-ethnic province with a diverse religious background made up of Kurds, Turkmen, Arabs, and Christians. Kurds account for the majority of the population.
“They should return when the situation allows them to make independent decisions. Decisions should not be forcibly imposed on them by the security forces of the area.”
Abdullah, who is a lawmaker in the Iraqi Parliament for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), emphasized that even if the Governor post were given to a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), who hold the majority in Kirkuk, the KDP would not vote for a governor who, directly or indirectly, participated in the Oct. 16 military operation.
Some of the PUK leaders have been accused of “treason” for allegedly reaching a secret agreement with the Iraqi forces and Shia militia to allow the takeover of Kirkuk without Peshmerga resistance.
The situation in Kirkuk has deteriorated, notably with twin suicide bombings recently striking the city. Displaced people of Kirkuk express concerns about returning to the province due to the fear of abuses and human rights violations at the hands of Shia militias in the area.
International human rights organizations have also reported that following the Oct. 16, hundreds of Kurdish houses have been looted and burnt in the town of Khurmatu, south of Kirkuk.
Editing by Nadia Riva