On Saturday, the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, condemned the violent incidents taking place in the city of Kirkuk, which led to the death of a civilian and a number of injuries.
In a statement, Barzani expressed “his condemnation of the riots that contradict the principles of democracy and peaceful coexistence in the city of Kirkuk, and we also strongly condemn the attacks carried out by the chauvinists, which led to the death and injury of a number of Kurdish citizens.”
The head of the Kurdistan government, Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, called for “immediate intervention to control this unacceptable situation, and to protect the lives of citizens and demonstrators, and we stress the importance of not allowing irresponsible people to escalate, exacerbate and complicate the situation more than it is now.”
Massoud Barzani warns
In turn, the Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani warned of the continued escalation of the situation and the targeting of the Kurds in Kirkuk.
Barzani said in a statement, “A few days ago, a group of bandits and mobs blocked the Erbil-Kirkuk road under the pretext of preventing the return of the Kurdistan Democratic Party to its headquarters, and they did not allow citizens to roam normally, and they created a very dangerous and inappropriate situation for the people of Kirkuk.”
“We have always emphasized that Kirkuk should be an example of coexistence among its components, but these illegal actions are an attempt to spread discord and undermine coexistence,” he added.
The Kurdish leader expressed his surprise at the role of the police, saying: “The security forces and the police, during the past days, did not try in any way to prevent this riot and illegal behavior. Rather, force was used today against the Kurdish demonstrators in Kirkuk, and the blood of the Kurdish youth was shed.”
Barzani considered, “These actions are totally unacceptable and will have bad results, and the bloodshed of our sons in Kirkuk will have a heavy price.”
On Saturday evening, at least one civilian was killed and eight others were injured when clashes erupted during demonstrations in the multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, where the authorities imposed a curfew, according to local officials.
Kirkuk Health Director Ziyad Khalaf told AFP that the identity of the civilian victim was not yet clear, as well as the circumstances of his death, pointing out that the wounded, “including a security member (…) were injured as a result of the direct collision, whether by gunfire or other materials such as glass, iron or stones.” “.
The cause of the crisis
Kirkuk has been witnessing tension for a week, between the central government in Baghdad and the authorities of the Kurdistan region in the north.
On Monday, protesters from the Arab and Turkmen groups organized a sit-in near the general headquarters of the Iraqi security forces in Kirkuk governorate, following information that Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani had ordered the security forces to hand over this headquarters to the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which had previously occupied it.
On Saturday afternoon, Kurdish demonstrators also gathered and tried to reach the headquarters, according to an AFP correspondent in Kirkuk.
In a statement on Saturday evening, the Prime Minister ordered the imposition of a curfew in Kirkuk, “and the initiation of large-scale security operations in the areas that witnessed riots for the purpose of thoroughly inspecting them,” calling on “all political parties and social and popular actors to take their role in averting sedition and maintaining security, stability and order in the province.” Kirkuk.”
In 2014, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Peshmerga took control of the oil region in Kirkuk, before being expelled from it in the fall of 2017, following a military operation by Iraqi forces in response to an unsuccessful referendum on the secession of the Kurdistan region from Iraq.
And the government of Muhammad Shia’a al-Sudani has relatively succeeded in containing the tense relations between Baghdad and Erbil.
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2023-09-02 18:18:47
