ERBIL, Kurdistan Region--Sunni Arabs in Kirkuk are, for the second time, forming a Sunni Arab council. The council will include Arab MPs, provincial council members, and personalities from fourteen Sunni Arab parties and factions in Kirkuk. “The council will become the real face of the Arabs for any decision, meetings and negotiations amidst these hot developments in the region, especially about the future of Kirkuk and Iraq,” said Esmael Hadidi, Arab politician and spokesperson of the council. Their main goal in forming the council at this stage is to be prepared for after the defeat of the Islamic State. The Sunni Arab leaders are concerned about the role of Shia militias in the Sunni areas during the fight against ISIS and afterwards. “Our strategy will be how to deal with ISIS and how to retake our occupied areas. The council will put all its energy into this, because the council represents the majority of the Sunni Arabs in Kirkuk,” said Hadidi. Another goal of this council is to gather the Sunni Arabs that now, due to the war with ISIS, are dispersed. They want to make it clear to the public that their council does not represent any regional or international agenda. “Forming this council is to bring together the politicians and the Arabs of this city. The council is not linked to any regional political agenda, because if it is part of the regional agenda, it won’t have a good future. Certainly this is the Iraqi Arab political council,” said Abdulkarim Azzawi, head of the Iraqi Arab tribes association. The Sunni Arab council’s first step is going to be defining their position with respect to the idea of making Kirkuk an independent region. The fate of Kirkuk is a fiercely discussed issue among Kirkuk officials and parties after the governor of Kirkuk, Dr. Najmadin Karim, recently proposed the possibility of breaking away from Baghdad and establishing an independent region for Kirkuk.
