Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Khanaqin demands to join Kurdish region
Politics
Members of the city council of Khanaqin demanded Tuesday that their city be separated from control of the Diyala governorate capital Baquba and be allowed to join the Kurdish region. Sameer Mohammad Nour, the head of the Khanaqin city council, urged the Iraqi parliament to issue a decree to adjoin the city to the Kurdish region. He said "this plea has the approval of all 19 city council members including 14 Kurds, 3 Turkomen and 2 Arabs."
Khanaqin is a Kurdish city outside the Kurdish autonomous region in north-eastern Iraq in the Diyala governorate. Khanaqin is the second largest oil-city in Kurdistan. A dialect of the Kurdish language is spoken there. Under Saddam Hussein's Arabisation policy Sunni Arabs were settled in the city.
COMMENT: It is possible that violence could escalate from the Turkomen and Arab population who may not want to become part of the Kurdish region, as with the same minorities in Kirkuk. However, it is interesting to mote that the minorities in the council voted for the move. Khanaqin is essentially Kurdish, so it would easily blend into the Kurdish region, as well as boosting oil revenue. Most of Khanaqin have wanted this for a while and may be flagging it up now as the issue of Kurdistan becoming independant is flaring up. COMMENT ENDS.
