Analysis: Why Kirkuk is important to Kurdistan, Baghdad

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Tue, 17 Oct 2017 - 03:49 GMT

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Tue, 17 Oct 2017 - 03:49 GMT

Members of Iraqi federal forces enter oil fields in Kirkuk, Iraq October 16, 2017- REUTERS

Members of Iraqi federal forces enter oil fields in Kirkuk, Iraq October 16, 2017- REUTERS

CAIRO – 17 October 2017: Kirkuk is the main source of oil to Kurdistan which has always been seeking independence from Baghdad, Turkey and Iran. Baghdad’s federal government realizes that fact very well so it did not waste any opportunity to restore control over that oil-rich city.

On Sunday, the Iraqi government accused Kurdish authorities of accepting PKK fighters into the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk, and said it considered the move a “declaration of war.” Although Barzani’s government in Erbil categorically denied the presence of PKK fighters in Kirkuk, this statement helped provide legitimacy and authority to the mission of the Iraqi security forces.

A convoy of elite Iraqi military forces took control of the governorate building in central Kirkuk on Monday, meeting no opposition from Kurdish forces deployed in the city, security sources and residents told Reuters.

A dozen Humvees from the U.S.-trained Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) arrived at the governorate building and took position in the vicinity alongside the local city police, they said. They drove to the centre of the city from the airport which they had captured earlier in the day from Kurdish forces.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi gave instructions that the Iraqi flag be hoisted on Kirkuk and other territories claimed by both the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government [KRG].

After IS captured large parts of northern Iraq in 2014, the KRG sent the Peshmerga into disputed areas claimed by the Kurds and the central government, and then asked the Kurdish Parliament to plan a referendum on independence.

Iranian support to Baghdad

Iranian major general Qassem Soleimani arrived in Iraq's Kurdistan region on Monday for talks about the escalating crisis between the Kurdish authorities and the Iraqi government following the Kurdish independence referendum, a Kurdish official revealed to media outlets.

Observers said Baghdad’s forces controlled Kirkuk and its vital sites in coordination with Soleimani, and the Kurdish Taliban wing whose loyalty lies in Tehran.

Iraqi_forces_backed_by_tribal_militias_during_battle_to_retake_a_village_from_the_Islamic_State_on_the_eastern_bank_of_the_river_Tigris,_Iraq_December_7,_2016-REUTERS
Iraqi forces backed by tribal militias during battle to retake a village from the Islamic State on the eastern bank of the river Tigris, Iraq December 7, 2016-REUTERS
In other words, declaring an independent state at Kurdistan region seems impossible without securing the oil wells which Kirkuk is possessing. The financial independence from Turkey and Iran is a must to be free in making decisions, but the Kurds are not enjoying that privilege till this moment. They are in need of the Iranian and Turkish oil deals.

Turkish concerns over Kurds’ independence
Turkish relationship with the Kurds has casted dozens of concerns to President Erdogan. Declaring an independent Kurdish state will provoke the Turkish leadership.

In 1978, Abdullah Ocalan established the PKK, which called for an independent state within Turkey. Six years later, the group began an armed struggle.

Since then, more than 40,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.

In the 1990s the PKK rolled back on its demand for independence, calling instead for greater cultural and political autonomy, but continued to fight. In 2012, the government and PKK began peace talks and the following year a ceasefire was agreed, although clashes continued.

The Turkish authorities also blamed the YPG for the suicide bomb attack in Ankara in February 2016 that left dozens of people dead, and Turkish troops shelled YPG positions in north-western Syria to prevent it from capturing the rebel-held town of Azaz.
Turkey's government says the YPG and the PYD are affiliates of the PKK, share its goal of secession through armed struggle, and are all terrorist organizations.

In February 2016, Massoud Barzani - who became president of Kurdistan in 2005 - reiterated the call for a referendum. However, he stressed that it would be non-binding and would simply allow Kurdish leaders to "execute the will of the people at the appropriate time and conditions."

Turkey has threatened of potentially crippling restrictions on oil trading with Iraqi Kurds after they backed independence from Baghdad in a referendum, that has alarmed Ankara as it faced a separatist insurgency from its Kurdish minority.

Turkish_and_Iraqi_troops_on_joint_ops_near_Silopi,_26_Sept_2017-_Reuters
Turkish and Iraqi troops on joint ops near Silopi, 26 Sept 2017- Reuters

Recep Tayyip Erdogan ramped up the pressure on northern Iraq's Kurdish administration late September following a referendum on future independence, warning of the risk of starvation for Iraqi Kurds if Turkey stopped allowing foodstuff to cross its borders.

Israeli support…Not enough?
Vows made to Kurdistan from Tel Aviv are not sufficient to declare a brave war against Baghdad. It was in 1966 that the Iraqi Defense Minister Abdel Aziz al-Uqayli made the proclamation that the Kurds of Iraq are seeking to establish "a second Israel" in the Middle East.
Iraqi_Kurds_fly_an_Israeli_flag_and_Kurdish_flags_during_an_event_to_urge_people_to_vote_in_the_upcoming_independence_referendum-_AFP
Iraqi Kurds fly an Israeli flag and Kurdish flags during an event to urge people to vote in the upcoming independence referendum- AFP
Some 51 years later, Iraqi Vice President Nouri al-Maliki has emphatically declared the same, saying, “We will not allow the creation of a second Israel in the north of Iraq.”

While relations between Iraqi Kurdistan and Israel have become more transparent in recent years, the history between the two dates back many decades.

Indeed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, “the Kurds have been and will continue to be reliable and long-term allies of Israel since they are, like us, a minority group in the region.”

He added that the referendum is “the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to attain a state of its own.”

The late Israeli President Shimon Peres had also supported Iraqi Kurds and their quest for statehood, with hundreds in the Kurdistan region paying their respects to the former Israeli president when he died in 2016.

But this vocal support is fairly new, and precedes a much quieter policy of support that began shortly after Palestine was expunged to make room for the state of Israel in 1948.

U.S. against independence of Kurdistan
The American foreign stance is obviously against the Kurds’ independence from Iraq. The American stance did not oppose the Iraqi army’s military action which kicked off on Sunday to restore the control over Kirkuk from the Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

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