“We believe that the time and the conditions are very suitable for forming the Kirkuk region. Sometime ago we asked the Baghdad office of the United Nations for this project,” Riyaz Sari Kahyia, head of the Turkmeneli party, told Rudaw.
He argued that Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen of the city need to reach an understanding on the future of Kirkuk.
Of all the ideas floating around, “the Kirkuk Region is the best solution,” Kahyia stressed.
Autonomy is one of four proposals for resolving the issue of the much disputed city. One option is for it to be attached to Baghdad, while an opposing view is for it to be attached to the Kurdistan Regional Government. A third suggests joint administration between the Kurdistan Region and the federal government.
Kurdish MPs from the Iraqi parliament have also met with the UN representative in Baghdad to express their position.
“We have emphasized the implementation of the Article 140 steps. The future of this city will be concluded based on Article 140. We have talked about a joint military administration because the current force in Kirkuk, in our point of view, is from one ethnicity and one sect, and consequently will become a sectarian force,” Rebwar Taha, a Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) MP in the Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw.
Kurdish forces withdrew from Kirkuk last October and the city came under Iraqi control.
Taha demanded the redeployment of Peshmerga to Kirkuk for a joint military administration of the city that has been labeled occupied by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
A Shiite MP from the largest parliamentary bloc, the State of Law coalition, wants Article 140 abolished.
"I am saying that there is no such thing as disputed territories. Such a phrase is used between two states. We have one state. There will be disagreement concerning borders, but there are no disputes. Dispute between who and who? If the region is a part of Iraq, it needs to have an understanding with the centre,” said Kahalf Abdulsamad.
Kirkuk falls into what is known as the disputed territories, claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil. It underwent an extensive Arabization process during the Baathist era. Article 140 of the constitution stipulates normalization through de-Arabization and returning lands to their Kurdish and Turkmen owners, followed by a referendum through which the people decide whether to be ruled by Baghdad or Erbil.
The city was secured by the Peshmerga during the ISIS conflict, but fell to Iraqi forces last fall when Baghdad deployed its military to take the disputed areas in the wake of Kurdistan’s vote for independence.
Under federal control, thousands of Kurds were displaced from the disputed areas and the Kurdistan flag was banned in Kirkuk. Kurdish students at Kirkuk University were prevented from wearing their traditional garb on Kurdish clothes day.
Kurds are alarmed by multiple decisions by the interim Sunni Arab governor after October 16 that echoed the Arabization process.
A member of the Sunni bloc in Kirkuk’s provincial council, the Arab Council, said Kirkuk should become a symbol of coexistence under federal control.
"Kirkuk is a province whose conditions are similar to the other provinces of Iraq. It is related to the federal government. We want Kirkuk to be for everyone. The project of the Arabs is for Kirkuk to be the city of coexistence and peace," Ismael Hadidi told Rudaw.
Kurds in Kirkuk, however, donned traditional clothing for new year celebrations, which also saw the Kurdistan flag hoisted over the citadel and a the lighting of a Newroz fire.
