ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish leaders issued urgent calls for calm as the streets of Kirkuk descended into violence on Saturday and three people lost their lives.
Tensions are boiling over in multi-ethnic Kirkuk after Arab and Turkmen demonstrators staged a sit-in near the headquarters of the Iraqi military’s Joint Operations Command (JOC), located on the main Kirkuk-Erbil road in what used to be an office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). They are angry that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani reportedly ordered Iraqi forces to evacuate the headquarters and two other buildings to allow the Erbil-based KDP to return to its offices.
The KDP shut down its offices in Kirkuk after Iraqi forces and the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic) regained control of the province in October 2017 and expelled Kurdish Peshmerga and security forces.
Dozens of protesters, mainly members of the Iran-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia and their supporters, have set up tents near the JOC headquarters since Sunday evening in protest of a KDP return. They have blocked access to the highway and vowed to continue their demonstration until Sudani retracts his decision.
Kurdish residents of Kirkuk on Saturday afternoon amassed in protest against the blockade on the highway. They expressed support for a KDP return to the city and accused Arabs of silencing them. The protesters lit fires in several streets and blocked traffic.
The tensions escalated on Saturday with the competing protests and Iraqi security forces and the PMF fired live bullets at the Kurdish demonstrators.
At least three people have been killed and several others injured, Kirkuk police spokesperson Amer Muheidin told Rudaw.
One of the dead was identified as a Kurdish civilian, Hawkar Abdullah, who spoke to Rudaw’s Hardi Mohammed earlier in the day, before he was shot in the chest by as-yet unidentified forces. “Kirkuk is a Kurdistani city that also contains Turkmen and Arabs,” he said.
On Saturday evening, Sudani ordered security forces in Kirkuk to impose a curfew and “initiate a large-scale security operation in areas that witnessed riots” to prevent an escalation of the unrest.
Kurdish leaders and political parties have vehemently condemned the violence and the actions of the Iraqi security forces, and have urged Sudani to intervene.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani described the blockade on the Kirkuk-Erbil highway as “illegal.” He condemned the violence used against Kurdish protesters in Kirkuk and said the chaos “poses a serious threat to coexistence, security, and stability.”
“The blockade of the Erbil-Kirkuk highway in the past six days was illegal. Unfortunately, this illegal act has not been addressed by the Kirkuk administration yet. Kirkuk needs the implementation of the law and the constitution, and does not need more illegal activities,” President Barzani said in a statement.
“The relevant parties of the Iraqi federal government must take the necessary measures immediately and it is the duty of the security forces to protect the security of all communities in Kirkuk without discrimination and bring the perpetrators to justice,” he added.
“I urge the oppressed Kurdistanis in Kirkuk to exercise restraint and refrain from violence, and I urge the indigenous Arab and Turkmen citizens of Kirkuk not to allow outsiders to destabilize the city,” Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
PM Barzani strongly condemned the “acts against democratic values and peaceful coexistence” in Kirkuk and expressed his condolences for the dead and injured.
KDP leader Masoud Barzani also condemned the violence and said that shedding Kurdish blood “will have very bad consequences and pay a heavy price.” He also called on Sudani to address the chaos.
With traffic in Kirkuk snarled for nearly a week, Turkmen and Arab representatives on Saturday called for judicial oversight for the return of the KDP. Turkmen MP Arshad Salihi said the matter should be resolved after important provincial council elections scheduled for December 18. And the Arab Coalition has argued that a KDP return would incite concerns over the province’s security once again.
Kirkuk is a multiethnic city home to Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen, as well as an Assyrian minority. The city was under joint administration before 2014, when Kurds took full control after Iraqi forces withdrew in the face of a brazen offensive by the Islamic State (ISIS) group threatening the city. Kurds held Kirkuk until October 16, 2017, when Iraqi forces retook control and expelled Kurdish security forces following the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) independence referendum. While other Kurdish political parties remain active in Kirkuk, the KDP refused to return, saying the city was “occupied” by Shiite militias.
Asaib Ahl al-Haq officials have said that they will continue demonstrating until Sudani retracts his decision to allow the KDP to return.
Sudani has ordered the formation of an investigative committee into the deaths and injuries at the protests. He promised “that the negligent ones who are found guilty of these events will be held accountable and brought to justice so that they receive their just punishment,” his office said in a statement.
KDP rivals, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), also condemned the violence in Kirkuk and said the party was in contact with the Iraqi government “in order to prevent confrontations and carnage among Kurdish citizens and other communities.”
“We, the PUK, think that the people of Kirkuk are dedicated to restraint in the public interest and for the sake of peace, and we expect the Kirkuk government and other city parties to carry out their responsibilities,” the PUK politburo said in a statement.
PUK leader Bafel Talabani called the killing of a Kurdish protester “a matter of deep concern.”
“Those accused of killing and injuring our sons must be arrested as soon as possible and referred to the judiciary,” he said in a statement, calling on the Iraqi government to “prevent further bloodshed and put an end to this situation as soon as possible.”
Shortly before midnight on Saturday, President Barzani and Prime Minister Sudani had a phone call to discuss the developments in Kirkuk and both sides urged the need to exercise restraint to prevent further unrest.
Iraq will hold provincial council elections on December 18, the first of their kind since 2013. The councils, created by the 2005 Iraqi constitution following the fall of Saddam Hussein, are powerful bodies that hold significant power, including setting budgets for several sectors such as education, health, and transport. While the elections will exclude the provinces of the Kurdistan Region, they are viewed by Kurdish parties as a key opportunity to regain a foothold in the strategic yet historically-disputed Kirkuk.
