Kirkuk Provincial Council chief postpones first meeting since crisis

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The first scheduled meeting of Kirkuk Provincial Council since the crisis has been postponed due to a disagreement over location.

 

“I have decided to postpone the meeting to a later date,” when the parties can agree on a location, said acting council head Rebwar Talabani in a press conference on Monday.

 

It is within his powers to choose a date and a place.

 

The meeting was scheduled to take place on Tuesday – the first time the council would convene since Iraqi forces took over Kirkuk on October 16.

 

Talabani criticized some council members for playing party politics amid a humanitarian crisis with more than 100,000 people displaced and said, “The situation of Kirkuk is far more important than a location.”

 

Holding a council meeting outside of the provincial capital is not unprecedented he said, noting that the governments of Nineveh and Anbar did so while the provinces were under ISIS control.

 

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) maintains an office in Kirkuk city. The party considers the province one of its strongholds.

 

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has left its offices in Kirkuk and their party buildings are now under the control of the Iraqi army and other militia forces.

 

Other parties from the Kurdistan Region, like Gorran and the Kurdistan Islamic Group (Komal), still have a presence in Kirkuk, but none are allowed to raise the Kurdistan flag.

 

Talabani said that he is ready to head a council meeting in any location, but stressed that if they are to meet in Kirkuk, all council members must feel safe. Some council members are “under threat” in Kirkuk where they are not welcomed by Iraqi forces, he said.

 

He accused the KDP and PUK of prioritizing their political power plays over the wellbeing of the thousands still displaced from the province. He urged all parties to act in the best interests of the people.

 

The Iraqi army is currently in control of Kirkuk city, Talabani said, explaining he is in contact with Kirkuk’s police chief though he himself has stayed in Erbil since Kirkuk was taken over.

 

Talabani objects to the presence of any force in the city, apart from the local forces and the Federal Police. Any others acting in the city are “illegal and unconstitutional,” he said.

 

The purpose of the meeting was to try to return some normalcy to the province and prepare a series of steps to demand from the Iraqi government, including facilitating the return of more than 170,000 people who have been displaced from their homes, providing compensation, preventing kidnappings, and ending alleged cases of Arabization that have occurred in the city in the past month.

 

Other officials have also expressed concern over demographic changes in the province.

 

The government office responsible for implementing Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution that is supposed to resolve the disputed areas, issued a warning on Sunday that demographic changes may happen in Kirkuk as a result of the Iraqi takeover.

 

Kaka Rash Sidiq, head of the office, said in Kirkuk that he was compelled to issue the warning because of fear of activities of armed groups who, he said, have no legal backing.

 

"We have sensed a dangerous feeling since a large force was deployed to Kirkuk province, operating under various names and uniforms. They raid houses without approval from courts and search these places under the name of searching for weapons and ammunition. People have been insulted, which is not acceptable," he said.

Sidiq called for all armed groups and forces to leave Kirkuk except for the local forces and federal police.