Iraq sacks governor of Kirkuk
MOVE ESCALATES TENSIONS AHEAD OF KURDISH INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM
Iraq’s parliament yesterday voted to dismiss the Kurdish governor of the ethnically-mixed Kirkuk province, in a move that escalates tensions ahead of a planned Kurdish referendum on independence.
The governor said the vote to remove him from office was “unlawful” and vowed to stay in power.
The decision to remove Najm Al Deen Kareem came after Kirkuk — claimed by both the central government in Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq — voted to take part in a referendum set for September 25 on Kurdish independence.
“I will stay in office,” Kareem told Reuters, hours after the parliamentary vote... The referendum will go ahead as planned.”
Iraq’s Kurds plan to hold the vote in three governorates that make up their autonomous region as well as disputed areas like Kirkuk that are controlled by Kurdish forces but claimed by Baghdad. Late last month, Kirkuk’s provincial council voted to take part in the referendum. Iraq’s central government has rejected the polls as unconstitutional and illegal.
Kirkuk is home to a mix of Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and Christians. Kurdish forces took control of the province and other disputed areas in the summer of 2014, when Daesh swept across northern and central Iraq and the Iraqi armed forces crumbled.
Iraq’s Kurdish region has enjoyed a high degree of autonomy since the US imposed a no-fly zone over northern Iraq after the 1990 Gulf War. It has its own parliament and armed forces, flies its own flag, and has been a close US ally against Daesh and other militant groups. But relations with Baghdad have grown strained in recent years over oil and the disputed areas.
Ankara welcomed an Iraqi parliament move to reject a referendum on Kurdish independence and warned the semi-autonomous Kurdish region that insisting on the plebiscite would have a cost, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said yesterday.
The parliament in Baghdad authorised the prime minister on Tuesday to “take all measures” to preserve Iraq’s unity in response to the move to hold a referendum on September 25.
Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani subsequently vowed to press ahead with the vote, calling it “a natural right”.
“Barzani’s referendum decision is a historic mistake,” Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said.
“We find the [Iraqi Kurdish] leadership’s insistent stance regarding the referendum and its increasingly emotional statements worrying,” Turkey’s foreign ministry said in a written statement. “It should be noted that this insistence will definitely have a cost,” it added. “We call on them to act with good sense and abandon this erroneous approach immediately.”
Erroneous approach
Turkey, which has the region’s largest Kurdish population, fears a ‘Yes’ vote could fuel separatism in its southeast where Kurdish militants have waged an insurgency for three decades in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.
Last month, the head of Turkey’s nationalist opposition said the referendum should be viewed by Ankara as a reason for war “if necessary”. Iran and Syria, also Iraq’s other neighbours, oppose the vote too, fearing it could fan separatism among their own Kurdish populations.
Western powers worry the plebiscite — including the oilrich city of Kirkuk — could ignite conflict with the central government in Baghdad and divert attention from the war against Daesh terrorists.
Iraqi Kurdish leaders must be prepared to face the consequences if they unilaterally declare independence and find implementation more difficult than they expected, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ebrahim Al Jaafari said during an Arab League summit in Cairo on Tuesday.
Al Jaafari told Reuters in an interview Kurdish leaders should think carefully before going ahead with any independence move. “Those who make such a declaration should bear the responsibility for it. It is easy to declare whatever you want but it is not that easy to actualise it,” he said in Cairo.
“We are depending on dialogue and also Arab, and nonArab advocacy. As we saw yesterday, the Arab diplomatic mobilisation was attained by Arab foreign ministers.”
The Kurdish area of northern Iraq has enjoyed broad autonomy since the first Gulf War in 1991. Since the 2003 US-led invasion and the overthrow of Saddam Hussain, it has been largely stable while the rest of Iraq has suffered insurgency.
Kurds are set to hold the referendum on September 25 but Baghdad opposes it, with lawmakers voting to reject it. Iraq’s neighbours — Turkey, Iran and Syria — also oppose the referendum, fearing it could fan separatism among their own ethnic Kurdish populations.
Independent state
Kurds have sought an independent state since at least the end of the First World War.
Iraq is in the final throes of a US-backed campaign to oust the Sunni militant groups which seized vast swathes of the country in 2014. Iraqi forces took back its second largest city, Mosul in July, and Tal Afar last month. Al Jaafari said the international community must offer financial and other support to Iraq for the rebuilding of Mosul and other cities retaken from Daesh.
“It is well known that nations who have emerged from war and destruction suffer great losses especially if the opposing party is implementing a scorched earth policy. (They) never surrendered land except after destroying it,” he said.
“Homes, institutions, hospitals mosques, markets and worship places, all were destroyed. The money needed is not little, a great sum is required.”
Those who make such a declaration should bear the responsibility for it. It is easy to declare whatever you want but it is not that easy to actualise it. We are depending on dialogue and also Arab, and nonArab advocacy.” Ebrahim Al Jaafari | Iraqi Foreign Minister