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| Iraq | ||
| Kurds Reclaiming Prized Territory In Northern Iraq | ||
| 2005-10-31 | ||
The rapidly expanding settlements, composed of two-bedroom concrete houses whose dimensions are prescribed by the Kurdish parties, are effectively re-engineering the demography of northern Iraq, enabling the Kurds to add what ultimately may be hundreds of thousands of voters ahead of a planned 2007 referendum on the status of Kirkuk. The Kurds hope to make the city and its vast oil reserves part of an autonomous Kurdistan. Kurdish political leaders said the repatriations are designed to correct the policies of ousted President Saddam Hussein, who replaced thousands of Kurds in the region with Arabs from the south. The Kurdish parties have seized control of the process, they said, because the Iraqi government has failed to implement an agreement to return Kurdish residents to their homes. But U.S. military officials, Western diplomats and Arab political leaders have warned the parties that the campaign could work to undermine the nascent constitutional process and raise tensions as displaced Kurds settle onto private lands now held by Arabs. "If you have everyone participating, it'll be a clean affair and you can accomplish your goals," said Lt. Col. Anthony Wickham, the U.S. military's liaison to the Kirkuk provincial government for the past year. "But don't go behind people's backs, which they have a bad habit of doing," he said, referring to the Kurds. "Does that bring greater stability to Kirkuk? No. It brings pandemonium." "Our patience is about to end," said Hussein Ali Hamdani, a 64-year-old Sunni Arab tribal leader. "There are 137 houses in this village now and in each there are at least five" Kurds. "We will protect our land and not abandon it. It's our honor." "The Arabs will not give up Kirkuk," said Mohammed Khalil, the leader of an Arab bloc within the Kurdish-dominated Kirkuk provincial council. "If America really wants to help Iraq, it will try to stop the Kurds from gaining control over Kirkuk, which would start a civil war."
Kirkuk, a city of almost 1 million, is home to a combustible mix of multiple ethnicities, a contentious past and enormous potential wealth. Kirkuk's precise demographic makeup is a source of dispute, but Kurds are believed to represent 35 to 40 percent of the population. The remainder is composed primarily of Arabs, ethnic Turkmens and a small percentage of Assyrian Christians. The Kurds, saying they have a historical claim, hope to anchor Kirkuk to Kurdistan, their semiautonomous region. Kirkuk holds strategic as well as symbolic value: The ocean of oil beneath its surface could be used to drive the economy of an independent Kurdistan, the ultimate goal for many Kurds. With the Kurds firmly in control of the provincial government, Kirkuk already shows signs of a remarkable transition. The names of many streets, buildings, schools and villages have been changed from Arabic to Kurdish. Thousands of Kurds who flooded into Kirkuk after Hussein's fall are still living in a soccer stadium, a city jail and vacant lots. The landscape is replete with ubiquitous gray concrete blocks of the new Kurdish settlements. Lt. Col. Don Blunck, of Meridian, Idaho, operations officer for the 116th Brigade Combat Team, which has overseen security in Kirkuk since December, said "tens of thousands" of Kurds have resettled in the city and surrounding villages over the past year, many with the help of the parties. Arab and Turkmen politicians said as many as 350,000 Kurds have been relocated into the Kirkuk region since Hussein's fall. Kurdish officials declined to provide exact numbers, but they said the parties had taken over the repatriations because the Iraqi government had moved too slowly and failed to provide resources to Kurdish families desperate to return to their homes. | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 Melike. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-10-31 03:02 |
| #1 Talk about biased. The Kurdish parties are adding 100,000s of voters, yet Saddam only displaced 'thousands' (and only killed a few baby ducks). operating outside the framework of Iraq's newly ratified constitution I recall Kurds returning to areas they were removed from was specifically written into the interim constitution. I don't know how the new constitution changes things but since its only just been ratified, its irrelevant to process that has been going on since long before. The Kurdish parties have seized control of the process. No need to mention they are the duly elected regional government. as displaced Kurds settle onto private lands now held by Arabs. Wonder where they were displaced from? Couldn't be the private land they are now returning to, could it? "If America really wants to help Iraq, it will try to stop the Kurds from gaining control over Kirkuk, which would start a civil war." Funny, I could have sworn they gained control when they won the election. but Kurds are believed to represent 35 to 40 percent of the population. Kinda odd they got more than 55% of the votes then and before most of the 'influx' of kurds in the last year. sporadic violence between Kurdish settlers and the Arabs. Ah yes! Kurd = Israeli Jew, Sunni Arab = Palestinian. That explains everything. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-10-31 00:34 |