The Iraqi Turkmen Front ITF expressed its rejection of the statement made by Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) President Pavel Talabani that "Kirkuk is the heart of Kurdistan," describing the statement as provocative.
On Tuesday night, March 25, Pavel Talabani arrived in Kirkuk and said, amidst a large crowd of PUK supporters in the Shorja neighborhood, that "Kirkuk is the heart of Kurdistan, the heart of Yekiti (PUK), and a city with its own characteristics."
Talabani emphasized that the PUK appointed a governor of Kirkuk to serve all communities without discrimination. "They talk about Kirkuk as a problem. Kirkuk is not a problem at all; it is the heart of all of Iraq. We will make Kirkuk a model of coexistence, cleaner, more beautiful, and safer."
In response to Talabani's statements, the ITF issued a statement on Wednesday, March 26, condemning the statements, describing them as "provocative." The statement stated that "the historical and geographical facts are stronger than all these accusations."
The ITF believes that the PUK leader's goal in his statements was to achieve partisan gains and harm fraternal coexistence among the city's communities.
The Turkmen believe they were marginalized in the local government when it was formed pursuant to an agreement between the PUK and two Arab parties at the Rashid Hotel in Baghdad in August 2024, which resulted in the PUK being appointed governor of Kirkuk.
"The policy of the Rashid Hotel government, since the first day it assumed office, has been to marginalize and exclude the Turkmen component, returning the situation in the province to the period from 2003 to 2017, before Operation Imposing Law... The statements of the PUK leader are part of this policy," according to a statement from the Turkmen Front.
From 2003 to 2017, before the government of former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi launched Operation Imposing Law on October 16, 2017, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) controlled most of the senior positions of the local government in Kirkuk.
The PUK's influence continued until it was forced to withdraw from the province and hand over the position of Kirkuk governor to the Arab component, coinciding with the withdrawal of Peshmerga and Asayish forces from Kirkuk.
Kirkuk, an oil-rich city with Iraq's second-largest oil reserves, is ethnically a mixed province with 1.7 million Kurds, Sunni and Shiite Arabs, and Turkmen. It has long been at the center of disputes between Baghdad and Erbil.
In statements last night, Bafel Talabani emphasized more than once that they serve all communities through the Kirkuk governor, noting in part that "Kirkuk is the heart of Iraq."
In its statement, the Turkmen Front called on the Iraqi Prime Minister to address the "abnormal conditions" Kirkuk has been experiencing since the formation of the local government by sending oversight committees to monitor "administrative violations by the local government that serve a narrow partisan agenda."
In conclusion, the statement emphasized that "the Kirkuk issue is a sensitive one, and these provocative statements will not resolve it. The history of Kirkuk and the Turkmen presence there is deeply rooted and cannot be ignored under any circumstances."
The Kirkuk provincial council consists of 16 seats; The Kurds have seven seats (five for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK and two from the Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP), six for the Arabs (three for the Arab coalition, two for the leadership, and one for the Ouruba), two seats for the Turkmen, and one last seat for the Christians.
Turkmen, the third largest ethnic group in Iraq after Arabs and Kurds, are spread across the country, residing almost exclusively in the northern towns and villages stretching from Tal Afar through Mosul, Erbil, the center of Kirkuk, and Altun Kopri district, Tuz Khurmatu of Salahaddin, and Kifri and Khanaqin in Diyala. They are all Muslims, half Sunnis and half Shiites.
Though there are no official records about the Turkmen in Kirkuk, the Turkmen political parties say there are over 200,000 Turkmen voters in Kirkuk.
