KDP, PUK in row over Kirkuk governorship

16-10-2018 8 Comments
Rudaw
Tags: Kirkuk disputed territories PUK KDP October 16 Erbil-Baghdad
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The KDP and PUK are in a row over the issue of Kirkuk’s governor. Each party blames the other for the situation in the disputed province and do not agree on how to move forward.

“The PUK is unilaterally making decisions in Kirkuk and is about to repeat the mistake of October 16th,” Mohammed Khurshid, head of KDP’s branch in Kirkuk, told Rudaw.

The PUK is in talks with Arabs and Turkmen in the province with the aim of convening the provincial council in order to select a governor.

Rakan al-Jabouri, a Sunni Arab, has been filling in as interim governor for the past year. He was appointed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi after his Kurdish predecessor Najmaldin Karim was ousted from the post in the wake of the independence referendum and federal forces taking over Kirkuk and other disputed areas. 

The KDP has refused to return to Kirkuk since last October, calling the province “occupied.” The party’s stance is that it is more important to normalize the situation than jostling for positions, said Khurshid.

"Whoever you choose as the governor of Kirkuk, whether KDP, PUK, or any other one, under these circumstances, when total authority is in the hands of Kirkuk Operations Command, then he won't be able to do anything,” argued Khurshid.

Efforts in Kirkuk needed to be accompanied by efforts from Baghdad to normalize things, he added. "It is a difficult thing. It requires effort from all sides, but more importantly, the total unity of Kurdistani parties."

The KDP and PUK have a consultative committee to jointly formulate strategies. Though spats over elections and the Iraqi presidency have stalled efforts, Khurshid says the KDP is ready to sit down and talk about how to resolve the Kirkuk problem.

Resolving federal-related issues in Kirkuk requires Kurdish unity in Baghdad, he added. 

He warned against the PUK convening the provincial council when it is in the minority, saying Arabs and Turkmen might backpedal on whatever promises they made and strip the Kurds of everything. He believes it is better for the Kurdish parties to find solutions among themselves first.

Rawand Mala Mahmood, deputy head of PUK’s Kirkuk office, believes the KDP is at fault in Kirkuk. 

All disputed territories "are equally occupied," not just Kirkuk, he said. 

"I believe Kirkuk won't be solved by saying it is occupied and then departing," he said.

Kurds need to save the “lost achievements” in Kirkuk, apart from party rivalries, he said. 

"Some party issues are preventing us from electing a governor," said Mahmood, pointing to members of the provincial council who are in Erbil and unwilling to join a meeting. 

He believes the root of the problem is the independence referendum, saying they had implored the Kurdish leadership not to hold the vote in Kirkuk. 

"The things that happened in Kirkuk are due to the Kurds themselves. Kurds created this situation," he said.

The KDP needs to apologize to the people of the disputed territories and show it is sorry, especially for how it implemented a "regional, international plot" against Kurdistan in losing the disputed territories, he said. 

Slandering each other doesn't serve the people, added Mahmood.

Noting that the KDP fought for the Iraqi presidency, he wondered why it doesn’t “come to fight for the Kurds in Kirkuk?”

"We feel there is a great bluffing,” he said, noting that his party has made efforts to regain positions in Kirkuk and the KDP could do the same. 

"I would like to put things as they are. This is a partisan issue,” he concluded. 

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  • 17-10-2018
    AhmedKarson
    The PUK sold us and God knows what other agreements they have with Iran to fight against KRG and KDP. There is only one party that really cares about Kurds and Kurdistan and that is KDP
  • 17-10-2018
    Shawn
    This PUK guy is blaming KDP for the mess the KirKuk in!!! Are you kidding. This PUK dude needs to get his head out his rear and shut the F****k up. It is his PUK party lead by Talabani family got Kirkuk in a mess that's is in right now. What KDP did ? Everything it could and still doing for Kirkuk. KDP fought for Kirkuk gave up too much of our beloved peshmerga for Kirkuk. But what did this guy PUK party did? PUK party lead by Talabani family opened their rear and front end for SHIE and handed over Kirkuk to them. This Dum PUK dude needs to look at the root cause of this Kirkuk mess and the root cause is his PUK party only and no one els.
  • 17-10-2018
    Kdp sold kirkuk
    Both sold kirkuk. Kurdistan will never be indipendent with kdp puk. Why kdp join iraq govermentare they not against iraq or are they just liars?
  • 17-10-2018
    AzadAzadi
    Why Governor of Kirkuk has to be a political party member? Why governors of sulamani, Hawlir , Dohuk and Halabja has to be appointed by political parties. How about an educated and experienced individual to be a governor. Unfortunately entire KRG positions are filled based on party loyalty without any regard to their qualifications. If kirkuk occupied, then Khanqin , Sinjar, Duz and other Kurdistani areas outside KRG is occupied. The Kurds in non-KRG Kurdistan areas need to unite and fight for their future. They need to have their own political party to represent them. While PUK/KDP are preoccupied by Iraqi presidency and other government posts, people of Kirkuk are struggling to survive.
  • 16-10-2018
    Gunrash
    Maybe they should make Lahur Sheikh Jangi, AKA Abadi's shoe polisher Kirkuk governor.
  • 16-10-2018
    Adam
    puk don't represent the people of Kirkuk, they lost people's respect.
  • 16-10-2018
    Unite
    That is a lot of smelly brown stuff coming out of the PUK. They have sold Kirkuk and the dealers and wheelers (Talabini family of wolves) are still enjoying their high position in PUK and currently negotiating with occupies to administer Kirkuk; so how on earth are they trying to "regain" Kirkuk? The PUK have suffocated Sulaymani and Kirkuk and as long as they exist, Kurdistan will be divided more and more. There need to be a revolution to unclutch the claws of PUK from the people of Kurdistan.
  • 16-10-2018
    Muraz
    Kdp fled from half of bashur from makmur to shingal to kirkuk. They are now mad and want to block everything to continue arabization.