The crisis has allowed the Kurds to grab contested areas and seize the oil-rich city of Kirkuk - and there is nothing Iraq’s government can do

Yousif Mohammed Sadiq, the parliamentary speaker of the Kurdish Regional Government, told The Telegraph that the capture of Kirkuk was justified and there was no question of the Peshmerga relinquishing their gains.


“Since Kirkuk is considered contested, any of the two parties has the right to control it,” he said. “We believe that these lands are Kurdish and we are not going to give up on it.”

For centuries, Kurds have dreamed of gaining full control of Kirkuk province, which was previously their capital.

In addition to its symbolic importance, Kirkuk is now a hub for energy exploration, with some of Iraq’s largest oilfields found within the province.

The Kurds view control of the oilfields as the gateway to building a viable independent state.

Erbil, the capital of autonomous Kurdistan, resembles a boom town, complete with towering five star hotels.

Since 2011, big oil companies, including ExxonMobil and Total have signed exploration deals with Iraqi Kurdistan.

But Mr Sadiq pointed out that “most” of these were in areas “contested” between the Kurdish regional authorities and the rest of Iraq. This crisis, however, has allowed the Kurds the chance to seize these regions.

Mr Sadiq stopped short of declaring the permanent occupation of Kirkuk, saying the Peshmerga moved in because “we just had to fill the vacuum that was created by the Iraqi army fleeing”.

Asked whether they would allow the Iraqi army to return, he replied: “This can’t be answered now”.