Information and liaison bulletin - Institut kurde de Paris
Information and liaison bulletin - Institut kurde de Paris
Information and liaison bulletin - Institut kurde de Paris
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108<br />
Revue <strong>de</strong> Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro <strong>de</strong> la Prensa-Basin Ôzeti<br />
THE MIDDLE EAST NOVEMBER 2007<br />
Have the<br />
Kurds lost<br />
the battle<br />
for Kirkuk?<br />
By Chris Kutschera<br />
U |HpgHERE<br />
ARE FIVE Or SIX issues<br />
' H on which I will not com-<br />
H promise," Massoud Barza-<br />
H ni, presi<strong>de</strong>nt of the Kurdish<br />
region, recently told one of his confidants:<br />
"I<strong>de</strong>ntity, bor<strong>de</strong>rs, peshmergas, budget, the<br />
oil law <strong>and</strong> Kirkuk."<br />
Of all these issues, Kirkuk is the most<br />
explosive, <strong>and</strong> the most elusive. Article<br />
140 of the Iraqi constitution, inspired by<br />
article 58 of the Transitory Administra¬<br />
tive Law (TAL) <strong>and</strong> approved by a popular<br />
referendum on 15 October 2005, stipulates<br />
that a referendum should be organised in<br />
the disputed territories before the end of<br />
December 2007.<br />
The referendum is the last phase of a<br />
complex process which inclu<strong>de</strong>s several<br />
phases aimed at reversing steps taken by<br />
the Baath Revolutionary Comm<strong>and</strong> Coun¬<br />
cil (RCC): the <strong>de</strong>portation of Kurdish <strong>and</strong><br />
Turkmen families from Kirkuk, coupled<br />
with the transplantation of Arab families,<br />
mainly from the South of Iraq (within the<br />
framework of a campaign of Arabisation<br />
which exten<strong>de</strong>d over several <strong>de</strong>ca<strong>de</strong>s); the<br />
alteration ofthe administrative map ofthe<br />
region (the districts of Chemchemal, Kifri,<br />
Tuz Kurmatu <strong>and</strong> Kalar were arbitrarily<br />
<strong>de</strong>tached from the governorate of Kirkuk<br />
<strong>and</strong> attached to Suleimania <strong>and</strong> other governorates).<br />
After months of procrastination un<strong>de</strong>r<br />
previous governments, in July 2006, Prime<br />
Minister Nouri Al Maliki committed him¬<br />
self to normalising the situation, with the<br />
creation of a special commission allocating<br />
a budget of $200m, to implement the fol¬<br />
lowing timetable: March 2007, modifica¬<br />
tion of the administrative map; July 2007,<br />
IRAQI KURDISH lea<strong>de</strong>r of the Kurdistan<br />
Democratic Party (KDP) Massoud Barzani<br />
refuses to compromise on certain issues<br />
organisation of a census. And, in December<br />
2007, the referendum.<br />
It is clear to all that this timetable is not<br />
going to be fulfilled. The "normalisation<br />
commission" established by Nouri Al Ma¬<br />
liki <strong>and</strong> chaired by justice minister Hashim<br />
Al Shibli is no more efficient than the previ¬<br />
ous one chaired by Hamid Majid Moussa.<br />
For one thing, the commission has not had<br />
a chairman since Hashim Al Shibli resigned<br />
in March. It remains unclear whether more<br />
than a few million dollars have in<strong>de</strong>ed been<br />
transferred to the commission's bank ac¬<br />
count. Mohammed Ihsan, minister of "ex¬<br />
tra-regional affairs" (disputed territories)<br />
of the Kurdish government <strong>and</strong> member<br />
of the normalisation commission, claims<br />
that the commission is working, that the<br />
resignation of its presi<strong>de</strong>nt is "not an is¬<br />
sue", <strong>and</strong> that 16,000 Arabs have registered<br />
in Kirkuk to go back South, while 48,000<br />
Kurdish families have registered to return<br />
to Kirkuk. "We are going to give money<br />
($15,000 per family) to the Arabs before<br />
the Kurds," adds Mohammed Ihsan, ac-<br />
The truth is the<br />
Kurds hold few<br />
cards. For many<br />
Kurds, who speak<br />
more openly than<br />
their lea<strong>de</strong>rs,<br />
the battle for<br />
Kirkuk is lost<br />
knowledging that no money has been given<br />
so far, <strong>and</strong> that no Arab families have yet<br />
left Kirkuk within the framework of the<br />
normalisation process.<br />
It is all the more significant that the old<br />
map of the administrative bor<strong>de</strong>rs of the<br />
Kirkuk governorate was not restored last<br />
March. The reintegration of the districts of<br />
Chemchemal, Kalar, Kifri <strong>and</strong> Tuz Khurmatu<br />
into the governorate of Kirkuk is at<br />
the same time an easy step, as l'uad Hussein,<br />
Massoud Barzani's spokesman, explains,<br />
<strong>and</strong> a highly political one: "It does not take<br />
time to cancel a RCC <strong>de</strong>cision. There is no<br />
need for parliament to <strong>de</strong>bate it. This meas¬<br />
ure should be <strong>de</strong>ci<strong>de</strong>d by the Presi<strong>de</strong>ncy<br />
- the presi<strong>de</strong>nt of the republic, Jalal Tala¬<br />
bani, <strong>and</strong> the two vice-presi<strong>de</strong>nts, Tariq Al<br />
Hashemi <strong>and</strong> Adil Abdul Mahdi. But each<br />
one has a veto right, <strong>and</strong> if one says 'No',<br />
it's over." The fact these three statesmen<br />
cannot agree <strong>and</strong> reach a <strong>de</strong>cision on an<br />
issue which is inscribed in the constitution<br />
says a lot about the inner workings of the<br />
present Iraqi regime. July went by with¬<br />
out any sign of preparation of the census<br />
to register the people qualified to vote at<br />
the next referendum. Kurdish officials tend<br />
to minimise this <strong>de</strong>lay, saying that, after<br />
all, they have the lists of the people who<br />
voted at the first elections (30 January 2005),<br />
at the second elections (15 December 2005)<br />
<strong>and</strong> at the referendum on the constitution<br />
(15 October 2005). They say they only need<br />
to register new voters, people who have<br />
since become 18 years old, <strong>and</strong> the new¬<br />
comers.