ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said that Peshmerga forces sent into areas outside Iraqi Kurdistan’s formal borders were there to stay.
“It should be evident that the Peshmerga forces will not leave these areas on the orders of some bureaucrats (in Baghdad),” the PUK said in a statement.
“Kurds would never accept to be bullied around once again under the pretext of Iraq’s sovereignty,” it added.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces moved into Kirkuk, and other disputed areas in the provinces of Nineveh and Diyala, after the Iraqi army largely collapsed when jihadi-led insurgents began a lightning offensive three weeks ago.
The fate of Kirkuk and the other disputed lands was supposed to be decided under Article 140 of the constitution, in a 2007 referendum that never took place.
“One should hold those accountable who failed both Iraq and the article 140,” the PUK said.
It added that Shiite parties had the right to nominate anyone they wished as prime minister: “We do not approve of any government that sidelines any faction. The Shiite factions are entitled to nominate a candidate for the position of prime minister.”
Maliki’s State of Law Coalition has nominated him as its only candidate for the post.
The PUK statement came as the Iraqi Parliament met Tuesday for an inaugural session, but failed to choose a new premier after the Kurdish and Sunni blocs walked out.
International leaders, who have included US Secretary of State John Kerry and his British counterpart William Hague, traveled to Erbil last week to seek Kurdish support for an inclusive emergency government in Baghdad.
Kurdish President Massoud Barzani has suggested that Kurds may seek independence from Iraq, and has expressed his mistrust towards Maliki.
He has insisted that the prime minister should step down, and that the Kurds must retain one voice against Baghdad.
The PUK’s primary backer, neighboring Iran, is standing behind Maliki in the current crisis. Tehran has reportedly sent troops and arms to help the prime minister confront the jihadis, who have declared an Islamic state in territories straddling Iraq and Syria.
The PUK also is eyeing the Iraqi presidency: PUK leader Jalal Talabani, who has been politically absent since suffering a stroke in December 2012, is also Iraq’s prime minister, and his party insists it must retain that position.
“We firmly believe that Kurds are entitled to the position of the president and within the Kurdish political factions, we insist that the PUK should nominate a candidate for that position,” the party said.
In multi-ethnic and multi-religious Iraq, the post of prime minister has gone to a Shiite, the presidency to a Kurd and the post of speaker of parliament to a Sunni Arab.
Senior PUK leader Adil Murad angered many Kurds last week when he said that Article 140 remained valid, and that calling it expired was unconstitutional.
In a Facebook statement last week, President Barzani said that Article 140 had come to an end. “Our initial acceptance of Article 140 didn’t mean our doubt in the Kurdish identity of those territories.” he wrote.
Barzani on Sunday called on the United Nations to help arrange a referendum in Kirkuk, to decide whether the oil-rich city in northern Iraq will formally become part of the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
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