ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The main Erbil-Kirkuk highway reopened on Thursday after supporters of the Iraqi Turkmen Front blocked it for over an hour in protest of recent administrative appointments in the disputed subdistrict of Prde (Altun Kupri) in Kirkuk province.
The protest follows Monday’s demonstration, when Turkmen Front supporters stormed the Prde municipality building in objection to the appointment of a Kurdish woman as the new municipal mayor. The demonstrators demanded that one of three key positions in the town - municipal mayor, subdistrict administrator, or police chief - be given to a Turkmen representative.
Some protesters, reportedly armed, smashed windows and broke down doors before being dispersed by security forces. Others lit fires and briefly shut down the Erbil-Kirkuk highway.
Protests resumed on Thursday, once again blocking the highway. Security forces reopened the road after about an hour. A committee was formed by the provincial council later that day to follow up on the protesters’ demands.
Prde’s administrative posts remain a point of contention. The local mayor told Rudaw that Turkmens currently hold 12 out of 17 local positions but are now seeking one of the top roles.
Kirkuk provincial council member Abdullah Mirwais told Rudaw that political factions are stoking unrest for electoral gain in the upcoming federal elections scheduled for November.
“At a time when elections are approaching, some politicians are getting involved in these affairs,” he said. “Turkmen, Kurds, and Arabs as ethnicities have no problems with each other, but [political] parties sometimes stir up these issues for their own gains.”
The Iraqi Turkmen Front has reportedly been divided over how to respond to recent appointments, amid a rift between its former leader Hassan Turan - who resigned in April - and Arshad al-Salihi, the party’s parliamentary leader and Turan’s predecessor.
The party remains a key player in Kirkuk’s politics and has repeatedly claimed that the city, disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, belongs to the Turkmen people.
In addition to supporters of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, Turkmen members of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) and cadres from the Badr Organization also joined the protest, according to Rudaw’s reporter on the ground and accompanying footage.