Kirkuk and the Kurdish Referendum

Yasar Yakis
View Original

After the announcement of the date for Iraqi Kurdistan’s independence referendum, the debate has shifted to the provinces it will cover. Kurds claim Kirkuk is a Kurdish province whose ethnic composition was altered under the Baath regime since 1968 by expelling Kurds and bringing in Arabs. They believe that for this reason, the referendum should include Kirkuk.

The provinces recognized by Baghdad as part of Iraqi Kurdistan are Erbil, Dahuk, Halabja and Sulaimanieh, but Kurds have extended their control to Kirkuk, Nineweh, Salahaddin and Diyalah provinces, which Article 140 of Iraq’s constitution considers “disputed areas.”

Kirkuk has to be singled out because it is multiethnic and oil-rich. A plebiscite was scheduled for Nov. 15, 2007, to determine whether the entirety of Kirkuk and various parts of Nineweh, Diyalah and Salahaddin claimed by Kurds would wish to become part of Iraq or Iraqi Kurdistan. Like the independence referendum, the plebiscite was postponed several times.