Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and their supporters staged a sit-in near the headquarters of the Iraqi military’s Joint Operations Command (JOC) in Kirkuk and blocked the main Kirkuk-Erbil highway for nearly a week, causing inconvenience for incoming and outgoing citizens using the key road, and frustration for nearby residents.
Disgruntled Kurds held demonstrations of their own on Saturday near the PMF protests, which quickly took a violent turn and resulted in the Iraqi army opening fire against the Kurdish protesters, killing at least four and injuring 15 others.
“What I ask of national media is to calm the situation down,” Major General Jabbar Naima, commander of the advanced headquarters for the Joint Operations in Kirkuk, told Rudaw’s Hardi Mohammed on Monday.
“Kirkuk represents a stable Iraq, encompassing Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, Shiites, Sunnis, and even Christians. They have coexisted for thousands of years,” he noted.
The PMF protesters demanded Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani to revoke an order he had issued asking the JOC to evacuate their buildings in Kirkuk in preparation for the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) return to the offices they used to operate from prior to October 2017. They claimed that the KDP’s return would be detrimental to the province’s security.
In addition to blocking the road, footage also showed the PMF protesters insulting and disrespecting the Kurdistan Region flag and the Peshmerga statue, further enraging the Kurds.
The commander said that Kirkuk families were bound together by strong and historic bonds, calling on the youth to help in further growing those ties.
Many have accused the PMF of bringing in people from outside of Kirkuk for their sit-in demonstrations, casting doubt on the legitimacy of the protesters’ demands if they are not natives of the city.
The escalations were eventually brought under control after a curfew was declared across Kirkuk on late Saturday. The PMF protesters ended their sit-in on Sunday morning, but a convoy of armored vehicles were deployed to the JOC headquarters, which further worried the Kurdish residents of Kirkuk.
Naima said that the armored vehicles were part of the Iraqi army which “protects everyone regardless of identity” and is always seeking the best interests of all Iraqi people.
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.
Iraq will hold provincial council elections on December 18, the first of their kind since 2013. 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.
