8 November 19, 2017 News & Analysis -Erbil crisis subsiding

The Arab Weekly staff The end of the boycott comes af- ter a KRG decision to accept a Fed- eral Supreme Court of Iraq ruling London that Iraq must remain unified and that no province could secede. raq’s central government and “We believe that this decision the Kurdistan Regional Gov- must become a basis for start- ernment (KRG) appear to be ing an inclusive national dialogue ending their stand-off with between (Kurdish authorities in) Kurdish officials making con- Erbil and Baghdad to resolve all Icessions to Iraqi Prime Minister disputes,” the KRG said in a state- Haider al-Abadi. ment. Members of the parliament from The concessions mark the ’ the Kurdistan Democratic Party latest attempt to revive negotia- (KDP), which dominates the KRG, tions with the central government, have returned to Baghdad. They which imposed retaliatory meas- had boycotted the parliament since ures following the independence it voted to declare the Kurdish in- vote. They included an offensive dependence referendum, which by Iraqi government forces and received overwhelming support in the Iran-backed Popular Mobili- Better late than never. Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government Nechirvan a September 25 vote, unconstitu- sation Forces (PMF) in October Barzani speaks at a news conference in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, on November 6. (AFP) tional. to wrest control from the KRG of the oil city of Kirkuk and other disputed territories. of not sharing the oil wealth. ernment and KRG officials improve, tarian divides seem to be popping The Kurds’ bid for independence “We tried to make Barzani accept concerns remain regarding the fate up,” Egeland told Reuters during a angered Turkey and Iran, which joint management between Erbil of the country’s Sunni-majority visit to Iraq. “There are too many have large Kurdish populations and Sulaimaniyah over the fields areas. cleavages in Iraq. We don’t need and condemned the referendum as but he strongly opposed it,” Sher- Jan Egeland, secretary-general more roadblocks and certainly not There are too many destabilising the region. The Unit- zad Yaba, a political adviser close of the Norwegian Refugee Council more violence.” cleavages in Iraq. ed States also called on Kurdistan to the PUK, told Reuters. (NRC), said the war against ISIS in Nearly 1 million people fled Mo- to scrap the vote. Ties between the KRG and Tur- Iraq may soon be over but provid- sul since 2014 but only one-third We don’t need more It was probably internal Kurdish key — former allies that fell out ing humanitarian aid to Iraqis is of its residents have been able to roadblocks and certainly divisions, however, that doomed over the referendum — also appear becoming more difficult as new return, aid groups said. not more violence. any post-referendum independ- to be improving. Turkey rushed to political and cultural divides open. Iraqi government officials have ence moves, local political sources provide humanitarian aid to the The NRC runs one of the largest estimated it will take at least five said. Oil was at the heart of the dis- Kurdish-majority Iraqi area of Hal- foreign aid operations in Iraq. years and billions of dollars to re- pute. abja after a powerful earthquake Egeland warned that the interna- build Mosul. The Kirkuk fields were controlled hit Iraq and Iran on November 12. tional coalition that helped Bagh- “There’s one thing we should by Iraq’s state oil firm SOMO before Turkish aid agencies were report- dad in its campaign against ISIS have learned in Iraq — it is that we being taken over by Kurdish forces edly the first to arrive, delivering could drastically reduce humani- cannot spend countless billions of in 2014, when the Iraqi Army re- thousands of tents, blankets and tarian budgets for Iraq following dollars on military campaigns and treated after attacks by the Islamic beds. Turkey has set up a telephone the militants’ defeat. then not spend the smaller sums State (ISIS). donation campaign asking Turks to More than 3 million people dis- needed to make it safe for people in Jan Egeland, The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan help Iraqi Kurds. The Turkish ges- placed by ISIS-related violence in the future,” Egeland said. party (PUK), based in Sulaimani- tures drew public praise from KRG the last three years have not re- the director of the yah, accused the ruling KDP party Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani. turned home. The Arab Weekly staff and news Norwegian Refugee Council of then President Masoud Barzani As ties between the Shia-led gov- “New political, cultural and sec- agencies. As Kurdish nationalism rises, the voice of Iraq’s Turkmen shrinks

Nazli Tarzi it represents what Jerusalem holds men had been vocal in their opposi- but do not share the burning de- trickled into the mainstream media. for Palestinians. The city’s Turk- tion. Yet, the world has kept its back sire to offer up Kirkuk to Kurdish The more pressing concerns as men character, they say, has been turned. statehood as vocalised by Kirkuk’s voiced by ITF representatives have London hijacked through social engineering Even after Iraqi forces wrested Kurds. been focused on lifting the air em- efforts by Kurdistan Regional Gov- control of northern territories, the Fault lines, even among Turkmen bargo imposed by Baghdad. In an blazing fire may soon ernment (KRG) officials. situation was tallied as a victory for have since emerged, in synchrony interview with Turkey’s Justice and burn,” warned the Fear is increasing as attacks Baghdad and a defeat for Kurds. with the sectarian engineering of Development Party-affiliated news- “ leader of the Iraqi against Turkmen politicians mount. Beyond a token mention, Turk- the post-2003 Iraqi state. As a re- paper Yeni Akit, Salihi mentioned Turkmen Front (ITF), It seems that the fluid identities that men joy and scepticism at the sult, sectarianism has pushed Sunni that his party issued a formal re- Arshad al-Salihi, characterised Kirkuk as a city of co- events have not become a central and Shia Turkmen apart. quest for the reopening of Kirkuk aboutA the potential political fallout existence are a thing of the past. talking point. Senior researcher Ahmad airbase used not only by Kurds but from Kurdish secession. Oil, no doubt, is the commodity of “The pulse of the region,” Kirkuk, Mahmoud from the Iraqi opposi- Turkmen, too. “Impossible,” Salihi said on Dijlah interest that has invited the curios- as Salihi described it, has been un- tion Foreign Relations Bureau (Iraq) Salihi has also emphasised a plan TV, “for any Turkman to forgo their ity of outsiders. Less marketable are settled by these developments but used a business analogy to explain of action dedicated to “coordina- right to Kirkuk. Even if you sever the horrors non-Kurdish Kirkukis it remains the beating heart of Iraq’s how a once cohesive community tion among all parties and non-gov- my head, my city will not be aban- have been subject to. oil industry. could become undone. ernmental organisations in Kirkuk.” doned.” The 1949 Gavurbaghi and 1959 “Since the 1920s we have been “You have sponsors from differ- Turkmen have suggested Erbil as an The Kurds’ independence refer- massacres, in which hundreds of left to our own fate. We did not see ent markets looking for clients,” administrative centre, in place of endum lifted the lid of a Pandora’s Turkmen lost their lives, among enough support,” Salihi told Turk- he said, “driving a wedge between multiethnic Kirkuk. The final note box of problems in Iraq’s troubled others, barely receive a mention in ish Manset 24 news. communities to please clients” talk- sung by Iraq’s Turkmen has been a north. the endnotes of Western scholar- Unlike the Kurds, Turkmen Ira- ing about the meddling of foreign word of advice to the KRG: “Accept An oft-parroted argument by ship. qis have stood in favour of a united powerhouses. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Aba- newsmakers colouring Kirkuk “pre- Though Kirkuk is the hottest po- Iraq. Turkey has long promoted an im- di’s conditions to minimise harm for dominantly and historically Kurd- tato of all, other areas in question They have been involved in state age of itself as the protector of Tur- the people.” ish” has accelerated the demise of included in the referendum were politics both before and after the kic peoples but it has to compete “There is a Turkman vision that the Turkmen voice. The Kurds’ de- Dohuk, Tal Afar, Mosul, Mandali United States’ toppling of Saddam with its economic partner, Iran, we have previously proposed to UN mand of a right to self-determina- and Khanaqin where Turkmen live. which distinguishes itself as the representative Jan Kubis,” Salihi tion has arguably eclipsed the voice While these towns form the Vatican of Shia communities. This said. “We told him there is a prob- and rights retained by other minori- boundaries of the Kurdish state emergent conflict, while slow burn- lem between us and some of the ties. KRG President Masoud Barzani and ing, can erupt at any time as it did in factions in the KRG. From our side, Diagnosing September’s Kurdish others dream of, minorities have Tuz Khormato. as Turkmen, our suggestion is to referendum as a “step in the wrong for years complained of enforced Turkey does well to defend its form a delegation made up of Ar- direction,” Salihi said the risk of Kurdification of areas once Ara- brothers and sisters in Kirkuk rhe- abs, Kurds and Turkmen, under the violence has returned to his native bised under former Iraqi President Since the 1920s we have torically but practically it has been auspices of the United Nations, that Kirkuk. . been left to our own fate. unable to reverse the Patriotic operates under the supervision of The happy ending Turkmen Depopulation of areas where the Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) terri- the Iraqi government in search of could have wished for came after dominant historical footprint is We did not see enough torial control over Kirkuk, whose constitutional and legal solutions.” military operations, led by Baghdad Turkmani has been another strate- support. alignment with Iran caused it to be The Turkmen are awaiting a re- forces, ended, as Turkmen describe gy used to scrub away the demands viewed suspiciously. sponse from Kubis while yo-yoing 14 years of Kurdish domination in of Turkmen. Depopulation would Turkmen are also part of Iraq’s between Baghdad and Turkey for Kirkuk. allow Kurds to claim it is the major- umbrella militia organisation, com- discussions. Turkmen have been Once home to the British-owned ity in areas where violence has been manded by Abu Ridha al-Najjar and protesting, flying their blue-and- Iraq Petroleum Company, Kirkuk used to encourage non-Kurds to Mohammed al-Bayati. The Turk- white variant of the Republic of houses rival power bases. The oil flee, as official reports verify. men faction known as Hashed al- Turkey’s emblem but their voice city’s status and identity since the Many who could relocate to Tur- Turkmani is the only armed side has grown weaker as they struggle Lausanne Peace Negotiations of key have. Without a firm existence but has not necessarily gained the to rival Kurds in the international 1923 have been in dispute but the on the ground, however, the voice approval of the wider Turkic com- support their cause has won them. twin problems since votes were cast of what is known as Iraq’s third larg- munity. September 25 have returned with est minority may be difficult to -un Leader of the Iraqi Baghdad’s gambit was widely Nazli Tarzi is an independent ferocity. mute. celebrated by Turkmen but the fact journalist whose writings and films have held Kirkuk Even before Barzani bulldozed Turkmen Front (ITF), that some Sunni Turkmen fled to focus on Iraq’s ancient history and as their nominal capital. For Kurds his way to the referendum, Turk- Arshad al-Salihi Sulaimaniyah and Turkey never contemporary political scene.