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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Residents of Kirkuk on Monday blocked the roads to Erbil and Sulaimani in response to plans to hand back the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) its former office.
The protesters gathered in front of the KDP’s former office, which is now the location for Iraq’s Joint Operations Command in the city after news broke of the spot being handed back to the Kurdistan Region’s ruling party.
"We blocked the street because we don't want the office to be handed over to Kurdistan," a young man from the crowd told Rudaw's Hiwa Hussamadin.
"The Joint Operations Command building was originally built by the KDP, and now we want to return to this building," Mohammad Khorshid, the head of the KDP office in Kirkuk, told Rudaw English on Monday.
"The Joint Operations Command has agreed to leave the building upon orders from the Commander in Chief [Prime minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi], however the concern right now is if they leave, the protestors might take over the building," he added.
The demonstrators went down the street that leads to the city’s Peshmerga statue, blocking all the routes of entry into Kirkuk, including the roads to the Kurdistan Region cities.
The protesters set up tents on the blocked roads, insisting on staying until their demands are met. They also called for the release of prisoners held in the autonomous region.
"We ask the Kurdistan Regional Government to release detainees held in the city of Sulaimani. We want peaceful solutions, we don't like violence," a protester told Rudaw.
Hundreds of people from Kirkuk were detained by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on terrorism charges between 2014 and 2017, when they held control of the city.
"If the Kurdistan Region wants to negotiate then it will be with the people of Kirkuk. Baghdad will not be involved," the protestor added.
The oil rich city of Kirkuk is home to Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and other ethnic groups who have lived side-by-side together for centuries, despite moments of tensions.
Kirkuk was under Kurdish control until October 2017, when Iraqi forces retook the disputed territories following the KRG’s failed independence referendum.
With reporting by Dilan Sirwan
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