TUZ KHURMATU, Iraq – District and provincial officials in the multi-ethnic town of Tuz Khurmatu appear on a collision course, with the former seemingly threatening to decide about separating from the northern Iraqi province of Saladin and the latter warning that any such move would be crossing a “red line.”
Town Mayor Shalal Abdul said that the District Council would make its final decision at a meeting Sunday. Without saying what that decision was likely to be, he hinted that “all the ethnicities and sects of the town have the same position about the issue.”
Tuz Khurmatu, whose mixed Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen population compete for power, lies in northern Iraq, where the Kurds control their own peaceful, prosperous and autonomous Kurdistan Region.
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein separated the town from Kirkuk province in 1976 and attached it to Saladin as a part of a process to change the demographics of oil-rich Kirkuk in favor of the Arabs.
Earlier this week, the District Council complained that the administration in Saladin was helpless in the face of rising violence in the town, and that Tuz Khurmatu should be reintegrated back into Kirkuk.
Tuz Khurmatu has suffered from multiple car bombs and roadside explosions, especially in the last several months, killing and wounding hundreds of residents. In an attack earlier this month, two blasts targeted a Shiite neighborhood, killing at least 10 people and wounding 50 others.
Ahmed Karim, the chief of Saladin’s Provincial Council, has warned about any attempts to separate Tuz Khurmatu from the province, calling it an “unacceptable move.”
“We will punish those who are willing to take a decision to separate Tuz Khurmatu from the province and such decisions have no value,” he told Sumarianews. “The province is committed to the district and considers this a red line,” he warned.
Abdul, the town mayor, said that the District Council has given a week to Saladin officials to respond to their demands.
“The District Council will make its own decisions after the deadline expires,” he said, without elaborating on what measures the council would take.
He also denied rumors of a planned strike in the city to pressure the administration in Saladin into addressing complaints.
Tensions in Tuz Khormatu came to a head in November last year, when clashes erupted between Kurdish Peshmarga forces and the Iraqi army, killing one person and wounding 11 others.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment