ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The majority of Kirkuk’s official posts have been dominated by Arabs since 2017, according to Kurdish and Turkmen officials who called for a proportional distribution of all positions.
Fahmi Burhan, head of the Kurdistan Region's board for disputed territories, said 110 public posts in Kirkuk that were held by Kurds prior to October 16, 2017 are now filled by Arab and Shiite Turkmen officials.
“Kurds no longer hold any major posts… The only positions Kurds still hold are the head of the general police directorate and the municipality head,” Burhan told Rudaw’s Soran Hussein on Sunday.
Kirkuk is a multi-ethnic city home to Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen, as well as an Assyrian minority. The city was under joint administration before 2014, when Kurds took full control after Iraqi forces withdrew in the face of a brazen offensive by the Islamic State (ISIS) group threatening the city.
Kurds held Kirkuk until October 16, 2017, when Iraqi forces retook control and expelled Kurdish security forces following the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) independence referendum.
Posts that Kurds previously held in Kirkuk include the governor, several district and sub-district mayors, and other top positions in public offices and institutes.
Aydin Maruf, politburo member of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, expressed similar concerns of under-representation in public office, saying that Turkmens have not assumed any new posts since 2017.
“Even before October 16, the Turkmens did not hold an adequate number of positions, and that remains the same… No sensitive and influential posts in Kirkuk are filled by the Turkmen component,” he said.
Turkmens previously held several high-ranking public posts, including head of the provincial council and head of the health directorate.
“The current security situation in Kirkuk is good, but there is no equality in the distribution of posts for the Turkmens. The Turkmens currently hold the least number of posts in Kirkuk,” Maruf said.
Kirkuk held provincial council elections for the first time in 20 years on December 18. None of the multi-ethnic city’s components managed to win a clear majority of seats, meaning they must negotiate to select a governor and fill the positions on the council, but they have been unable to do so over five months after the vote.
Rakan al-Jabouri, a Sunni politician and head of the Arab coalition, has served as Kirkuk’s acting governor for the past six years and is the first non-Kurdish politician to hold the position since 2003.
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