UN in Iraq should play mediator in Kirkuk dispute: PM Barzani

NEW YORK – In a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani proposed five key points for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) to consider in its agenda for the country.

Rudaw obtained a copy of the letter that was sent three weeks before the United Nations Security Council voted on a resolution to extend the term of UNAMI for another year. The letter was sent amid efforts by the Iraqi government to prepare a plan to reduce the UN agenda in Iraq.

Kirkuk and other disputed areas feature prominently in the letter in which Barzani says the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy can “play a main role” as a mediator to commence serious and intense dialogue between Erbil and Baghdad in order to resolve problems between the two by, among other things, “implementing article 140 of the Iraqi constitution.”

The UN Security Council extends the term of UNAMI by passing a resolution determining its agenda every year. In recent years, the UN did not prioritize the problem of Kirkuk and article 140 of the Iraqi constitution due to protests by Baghdad.

In a similar letter by the KRG to the UN Secretary General and members of the Security Council last year, the KRG had called on the UN to broaden its role in Iraq in order to resolve the question of Kirkuk and other disputed areas. The United States supported the request, but the United Kingdom ignored it.

This year’s draft resolution of UNAMI does not address the problem of Kirkuk and other disputed areas, according to a diplomatic source. The UN is due to hold a vote on the draft on May 31.

Member states have not yet responded to Barzani’s letter.

Oil-rich Kirkuk, which Kurds consider to be akin to their Jerusalem, was seized from the Peshmerga by Iraqi forces and Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitias in October 2017 following the Kurdistan independence referendum. Kurdish forces had protected the disputed city from Islamic State (ISIS) attack since 2014.

Under the 2005 Iraqi constitution, the Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen of Kirkuk are supposed to settle the question of whether the province belongs to federal Iraq or the Kurdistan Region in a referendum. Such a vote has never taken place.

In the letter, Barzani also calls on the UN to upgrade its mission in the Kurdistan Region and appoint a high-level official to Erbil – like a deputy envoy to the UN Secretary General. The prime minister also asks the UN to appoint someone to the humanitarian affairs post which has remained vacant since 2015.

Barzani also calls on the UN to move its main humanitarian affairs office from Baghdad to Erbil, as “90 percent of Syrian refugees in Iraq and 60 percent of all Iraqi IDPs are based in the Kurdistan Region.”

The Kurdistan Region accommodated nearly 1 million Iraqi IDPs who fled the war with the Islamic State (ISIS) and 800,000 of them still remain in the Kurdistan Region, according to UN’s latest report.

In the letter, Barzani also calls on the UN to refer to the Kurdistan Region as a “federal” region in its reports and “recognize it.”

The UN prepares periodic reports about Iraq – the most important of which is the one prepared by UN Secretary General which is submitted to UN Security Council. In the latest report by UN Secretary General, the “KRG” has been mentioned 33 times and Iraqi government institutions have been characterized as federal 12 times.

UN in Iraq should play mediator in Kirkuk dispute: PM Barzani

Iraq reopens airspace amid de-escalation in Iran-Israel conflict

Kurdish Peshmerga minister hopeful on US pact extension, urges stronger diplomatic efforts

Statement from Rudaw on passing of reporter Halkawt Aziz

Related Articles

Iraq reopens airspace amid de-escalation in Iran-Israel conflict

Kurdish Peshmerga minister hopeful on US pact extension, urges stronger diplomatic efforts

Statement from Rudaw on passing of reporter Halkawt Aziz