Tuesday, 25 September 2007,
Massoud Barzani, the President of the autonomous Regional Government of Kurdistan 'Iraq'.
DPA
Kirkuk, Iraq's border with Kurdistan region, -- Iraq's Kurds will not use force to reassert their rights in the northern Kurdish city of Kirkuk but want immediate implementation of a constitutional article to normalize the situation in the city, their leader said on Sunday.
Kurds took part in elections and the political process and voted for a permanent Iraqi constitution in order to to preserve their national and political rights,' the president of the northern Kurdistan autonomous Region, Massoud Barzani.
Speaking at the opening of the conference of the Iraqi Kurdistan students' union in Erbil, Barzani said the implementation of article 140 of the constitution has been held up by stalling, procastrination and foreign threats.
'But we will not accept any delay in its implementation for even a minute based on a political decision,' Barzani said.
Massoud Barzani, the President of the autonomous Regional Government of Kurdistan 'Iraq'
However, he hinted at the possibility of delaying implementation on technical grounds for a brief period. But only the parliament of the Kurdistan autonomous region would be empowered to endorse such a delay.
The future of the northern city of Kirkuk, which is seen as a microcosm of Iraq with its mix of several ethnicities, is a bone of contention between Kurds on the one hand and Sunni Arabs and Turkmen on the other.
The city has seen a surge in violence since the implementation of Iraq's new constitution in which the still-unenforced contentious article 140 outlines a three-step plan to reverse the Arabization policy of Saddam's regime. This policy was part of Saddam's campaign to push out the Kurds.
The constitution also provides for a census followed by a referendum to decide the future of the city to which the Turkmen and Arab populations are opposed.
Kurds, however, support it as it is likely to pave the way for the city to be integrated into the autonomous Kurdistan region.
DPA
* Kirkuk city is a Kurdistani city and it lies just south border of the Kurdistan autonomous region and it is not under the full control of Kurdistan Regional Government administration, its population is a mix of majority Kurds and minority of Arabs, Turkmen.
The former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein forced over 250,000 Kurdish residents to give up their homes to Arabs in the 1970s, to "Arabize" the city and the region's oil industry.
Based on Iraq's Constitution a referendum is to be held in late 2007 to decide whether the oil-rich Kurdish province should be annexed to the safe semiautonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq's north.
Speaking at the opening of the conference of the Iraqi Kurdistan students' union in Erbil, Barzani said the implementation of article 140 of the constitution has been held up by stalling, procastrination and foreign threats.
'But we will not accept any delay in its implementation for even a minute based on a political decision,' Barzani said.
Massoud Barzani, the President of the autonomous Regional Government of Kurdistan 'Iraq'
However, he hinted at the possibility of delaying implementation on technical grounds for a brief period. But only the parliament of the Kurdistan autonomous region would be empowered to endorse such a delay.
The future of the northern city of Kirkuk, which is seen as a microcosm of Iraq with its mix of several ethnicities, is a bone of contention between Kurds on the one hand and Sunni Arabs and Turkmen on the other.
The city has seen a surge in violence since the implementation of Iraq's new constitution in which the still-unenforced contentious article 140 outlines a three-step plan to reverse the Arabization policy of Saddam's regime. This policy was part of Saddam's campaign to push out the Kurds.
The constitution also provides for a census followed by a referendum to decide the future of the city to which the Turkmen and Arab populations are opposed.
Kurds, however, support it as it is likely to pave the way for the city to be integrated into the autonomous Kurdistan region.
DPA
* Kirkuk city is a Kurdistani city and it lies just south border of the Kurdistan autonomous region and it is not under the full control of Kurdistan Regional Government administration, its population is a mix of majority Kurds and minority of Arabs, Turkmen.
The former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein forced over 250,000 Kurdish residents to give up their homes to Arabs in the 1970s, to "Arabize" the city and the region's oil industry.
Based on Iraq's Constitution a referendum is to be held in late 2007 to decide whether the oil-rich Kurdish province should be annexed to the safe semiautonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq's north.
0 comments:
Post a Comment