Kurdistan turns to UN to solve decades-long Kirkuk dispute

 

NEW YORK, N.Y. — The Kurdistan Regional Government is lobbying the United Nations to play a greater role in solving the issue of Kirkuk and the disputed territories. 

“The UNAMI [United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq] can specifically play a crucial role in the implementation of Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, which sets the constitutional framework for determining the fate of the disputed territories including Kirkuk,” reads a formal letter from the KRG to members of the UN Security Council, obtained exclusively by Rudaw.

The letter comes ahead of a vote by the UN Security Council to renew the mandate of the UN’s political mission in Iraq. The vote is expected to be held by early July 2018. 

“Look, the mandates are given to us by the Security Council. The role of the UN in Iraq is to assist the Iraqi people in resolving a number of external, but also, obviously, internal issues, including the boundary issue, and we’ll continue to be working on that,” said Stephan Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary General, responding to a Rudaw question. 

His remarks come a week after the UN’s top official in Iraqi told Rudaw the UN mission in Iraq is “very well positioned” to start solving the issue of Kirkuk. 

“We as the mission are already taking preparatory steps. We are talking to difference parties in Kirkuk,” Jan Kubis, the UN Secretary General Envoy to Iraq, told Rudaw in New York. 

“Yes I’m aware of the letter of the authorities of the Kurdistan Region to the members of the Security Council requesting this. It’s for the Security Council in consultation with the government in Baghdad to accept this and give us the mandate, but once again my encouragement and my line is this is very important for the post-election period,” added Kubis. 

For decades, the identity of the diverse, oil-rich city of Kirkuk has been a point of dispute and armed conflicts between the Kurds and the Iraqi government. The Kurds assert Kirkuk and other disputed territories should be part of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region. Following the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, the Kurds and the Iraqis agreed on a plan to determine the fate of Kirkuk that was ratified in Iraq’s new constitution – Article 140. 

Its provisions, which are yet to be met, include holding referendums in the disputed areas so citizens can choose whether they would like to belong to Iraq or the Kurdistan Region.

Many pundits have faulted the KRG for holding the referendum in Kirkuk; however, Kurdish politicians favored holding two referendums in Kurdistani areas like Kirkuk which has a special status under the Iraqi constitution. One of the votes would allow people to choose whether they wanted to be independent; the other would give people the option to choose whether they preferred to be governed by Baghdad or Erbil.

It has been a year since now former Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani announced the Kurdistan Region would hold a referendum to allow people to voice their opinions on leaving Iraq. An overwhelming 92.7 percent of ballots casted had indicated 'Yes' for independence. Despite the apparent public mandate to leave Iraq, the Kurdistan Region did not. They "froze" the results of the referendum, Barzani did not extend his term as president, and the people of Kurdistan participated in the Iraqi elections.

The largest party in the Kurdistan Region opted to not run in the parliamentary election in Kirkuk, labeling it as occupied. Still, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan performed well in the disputed provinces, according to initial results. The Kurdistan Democratic Party along with the PUK are historically the leading parties in the KRG, and will head to the ballot boxes in September. Voters will have the opportunity to voice their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their governance of the KRG.

Kirkuk's complexities are well-documented, but the failure to address these issues was brought to bear in the aftermath of Iraq's parliamentary election on May 12. The provincial council doesn't function, the provincial election results do not match the current governance in Kirkuk, and security is lax as UNAMI noted following the most-recent explosions in the city on Friday. 

Not much is likely to change in the disputed areas with political inaction. Serious dialogue between Erbil and Baghdad can be encouraged before Iraq holds its provincial election in December, so as to avoid the fallout of the parliamentary election, where parties have rejected results, called for a recount, and even a re-vote. 

Will UNAMI play a vital role in facilitating discussions between the two capitals within the framework of the constitution, or will the figurative can of Kirkuk get kicked farther down road?