Today's Zaman: Turkey against enforcing solution in Kirkuk unilaterally
“Turkey's policy with regard to Kirkuk is clear. The city should be governed with a formula agreed upon by all the ethnic groups of Kirkuk. We are against one group of people of Kirkuk dominating others and unilaterally enforcing its solution by military power,” a Turkish Foreign Ministry official who wished to remain anonymous told Today's Zaman on Monday.
Turkey has advocated that Kirkuk should be given special status in which all its segments are represented in a fair and balanced manner within the unity of Iraq.
Emboldening their position in the region as a force against the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq, Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) President Masoud Barzani has called for a referendum in disputed Kirkuk to determine the future of the oil-rich city, which Iraqi Kurds regard as the appropriate capital of an independent Kurdish state.
Barzani has asked the United Nations to help arrange a referendum in Kirkuk, according to the online Kurdish media network Rudaw on Sunday. “Kurdistan [the KRG] respects the other ethnicities of these areas [Kirkuk] and we will conduct a transparent referendum. Towards this end, we ask the UN for help,” Barzani told Nikolay Evtimov Mladenov, the head of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).
The idea of an independent Kurdish region that includes Kirkuk in it has been considered a red line for Turkey. Turkey is concerned that an independent Kurdish state could potentially carve out parts of its territory, and is also concerned for the well being of the sizeable Turkmen population living in Kirkuk. There are also ethnic Arabs living in Kirkuk.
With its 50,000-strong peshmerga (armed forces) in the region, Kurds had already gained full control of Kirkuk, since the Iraqi army left the city unprotected even before the ISIL militia arrived.
'New reality in Iraq'
Apart from Barzani's call for a referendum in Kirkuk, senior KRG official Mohammed İhsan told leading pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday that a new reality in Iraq has been established since ISIL's expansion, and that Kirkuk is now part of the KRG. İhsan also claimed that international actors are not opposed to Kirkuk being part of the KRG. “The Kurds have waited more than 10 years to implement Article 140 [of the Iraqi constitution, which specifies that the city's status must be decided via a referendum] but there are... [hardliners] in the Iraqi government and parliament who... [have denied that Article 140] existed, and the federal government in Baghdad has not taken any steps to implement [it],” said İhsan.
İhsan also said Barzani had announced his decision to take Kirkuk back during a meeting with British Foreign Secretary William Hague and that US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Arbil short time ago; furthermore, he maintained that both Hague and Kerry are aware of Barzani's position on Kirkuk. He added that so far there have been no reactions, either positive or negative.
“We are even certain that Turkey and Iran will be satisfied with the decision to incorporate Kirkuk into the region, as their borders will be safe from terrorism; there are joint interests between Turkey and the Kurdistan [KRG] region, and the same applies to Iran,” İhsan said.
Netanyahu's support for independent Kurdish state
In the meantime, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called for the establishment of an independent Kurdish state, while the US prefers to keep war-torn Iraq united.
Netanyahu said the al-Qaeda-affiliated ISIL as well as Iranian-backed Shiite forces have provided an opportunity for enhanced regional cooperation. Therefore, he suggested Kurds should be supported. He called the Kurds “a nation of fighters” and said they had proved their political commitment and political moderation; furthermore, he stated that they are “worthy of independence.” "We should... support the Kurdish aspiration for independence," Netanyahu said at a meeting of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) think tank.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told US Secretary of State John Kerry this week that the creation of an independent Kurdish state was a foregone conclusion.
Another surprising statement on an independent Kurdish state has come from Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chairman Hüseyin Çelik. “In the past, an independent Kurdish state was a reason for war [for Turkey) but no one has the right to say this now,” Çelik told the Financial Times on Friday. “If Iraq is divided -- and it is inevitable -- [the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG)] will be our brothers. … Unfortunately, the situation in Iraq is not good and it looks like it is going to be divided,” Çelik said in his remarks to the Financial Times.
Speaking to CNN last week, Barzani signaled that the time has come for the KRG to realize their dream of becoming an independent state. Ankara and Arbil have strengthened ties recently and increased cooperation over energy due to Turkey's desire to gain access to energy resources in northern Iraq.
The Financial Times reported that Çelik accused Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of responsibility in the growing fragmentation in Iraq as well as the US, saying that the US had not brought peace, stability and unity: “They just left chaos, widows and orphans. They created a Shiite bloc to the south of our country."
Çelik also said to the Financial Times that Kurdish independence was not Turkey's “number one choice.” “The Turks don't want to encourage independence and caution against hasty moves, but if it happens, they will live with it,” another foreign diplomat told the Financial Times.
Today's Zaman
