Friday, November 17, 2006
Arabs and Turkmen boycott talks on Kirkuk
Politics
Arab and ethnic Turkmen members said Thursday they were suspending their participation in a council that governs an oil-rich province in northern Iraq, charging that the body is unfairly dominated by members of the region's Kurdish majority. In a statement, six Arab members, including both Sunni and Shiite Muslims, said they were joining nine Turkmen in boycotting the 41-seat council because their calls for consensus have been ignored by those who hold 26 seats controlled by Kurds or their allies.
Kirkuk council head Rezgar Ali, a Kurd, urged Arabs and Turkmen to "adopt a constructive dialogue by sitting at the table with (Kurdish council members) and reach an agreement that will end their boycott." But Jalil Agha, a leader in the council's Turkmen faction, told The Associated Press that "Turkmen parties will not abandon their right of Iraq's unity and Kirkuk's Iraqi identity."
The Turkmen have a special attachment to Kirkuk because it was under Turkmen control during the Ottoman Empire. Arab tribal leader Abdul-Rahman Munshid al-Asi called for equal representation among ethnic groups living in the city. Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking Thursday during a news conference with his visiting Iraqi counterpart Nouri al-Maliki in Ankara, urged power-sharing among ethnic groups in Kirkuk. Turkey is known to have close links with the Turkmen and strongly opposes a Kurdish domination of the city that would lead to annexing it to Iraq's three northern provinces that form Kurdistan.
The Turkmen have a special attachment to Kirkuk because it was under Turkmen control during the Ottoman Empire. Arab tribal leader Abdul-Rahman Munshid al-Asi called for equal representation among ethnic groups living in the city. Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking Thursday during a news conference with his visiting Iraqi counterpart Nouri al-Maliki in Ankara, urged power-sharing among ethnic groups in Kirkuk. Turkey is known to have close links with the Turkmen and strongly opposes a Kurdish domination of the city that would lead to annexing it to Iraq's three northern provinces that form Kurdistan.
COMMENT: Without unity and dialogue, a mutual resolution on Kirkuk will not be reached and the violence will escalate. There is a stalemate with neither the Kurds, Arabs or Turkmen willing to concede Kirkuk as each group believes it is theirs by right. COMMENT ENDS.
