ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim has officially called on the Provincial Council to vote in favour of holding a referendum in the city, along with the Kurdistan Region on September 25. The council will consider the subject in its next meeting on August 29.
"Through an official letter, we have asked the Provincial Council to vote for the referendum to be held in Kirkuk, too," said Karim.
He added they "will follow up on any necessary measures," in order for the process to succeed.
Asked what rights would the people of Kirkuk gain from the referendum, Karim said the vote is not for Kirkuk to join a possibly independent Kurdistan state, but will ensure that the people have the opportunity to express their opinion on the issue.
"This [referendum] is not for incorporation into the state of Kurdistan... This is just participation," Karim, said, adding that another later referendum will allow the people of Kirkuk to decide their fate.
The Iraqi government has officially announced it is unable to carry out a referendum in Kirkuk as is enshrined in the contested Article 140 of the constitution and which allows the population to vote whether to stay with Iraq or join the Kurdistan Region.
"The [Iraqi] government itself has said in an official statement, apologizing, that it cannot hold any referendum in Kirkuk city," said Rebwar Talabani, head of the Provincial Council.
A council vote on the issue will allow Kirkuk "to issue a legislation saying that the Iraqi government has acknowledged that it cannot do anything,” explained Talabani. “So we are therefore, calling on the Kurdistan Regional Government to come and solve the problems of Kirkuk in all fields."
Talabani confirmed on Thursday that the governor had asked the council to approve holding the referendum.
He said the council was also asked on Wednesday by the largest bloc, the Kurdish-led Brotherhood faction, to vote on August 29 to participate in the referendum.
This position is one that they have held for years in Kirkuk, Talabani said. In 2008, the asked “to be incorporated into the Kurdistan Region in a unanimous vote, but unfortunately back then the parliament did not respond.”
He said they had been waiting for Kurdistan’s High Referendum Council delegation to visit Kirkuk to discuss the process, but "unfortunately, they did not come." So, the council has opted to proceed by putting the referendum subject into the agenda of their next official meeting, to be held on August 29.
In a gathering of 100 Kurdish, Turkmen, and Arab tribal leaders, participants voiced their support for the referendum to be held in Kirkuk, but with details of their guarantees in a Kurdistan state.
Sheikh Mohammed Jasim, chief of the Cenabiyan tribe, told Rudaw "as a main nation in Iraq we ask: how can we participate in a referendum in which we do not know what our fate will be. The Provincial Council has to solve this. Then we are going to motivate people to take part in this process."
Sheikh Riyaz Bin Tamin said Arabs in Kirkuk are ready for a “historical change” and are pinning their hopes on the referendum.
Jawt Agha, a Turkmen figure, also an attendant of the gathering, said "Any work that is in the interest of Kirkuk, the components will support it. Those not with the referendum are listening to some countries and do not have their own opinions. We have understood that the referendum is in the interest of Kirkuk."
Others oppose the referendum, believing it is unconstitutional for city officials to promote the vote.
Tahsin Kahiye, head of the Turkmen faction in the city, said "A referendum to separate an area [from Iraq] needs a law and this can be done in the parliament. The constitution has not permitted the Kirkuk Provincial Council to make such a decision or decide on the fate of an area."
