ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The future of the disputed province of Kirkuk was the lead-off subject in this week’s MERI Forum 2015 with experts discussing the oil-rich province’s challenges with internal divisions, refugees and security threats from ISIS.
The first session of the annual Middle East Research Institute (MERI) forum, titled “Shaping Visions for the Future of the Middle East,” began Tuesday in Erbil, the first of three days of debate meant to bring together policymakers, academics and officials in pursuit of the region’s most pressing problems.
The dispute over Kirkuk as a multi-ethnic, resource-rich province remained one of Iraq’s most complex problems in 2015. The ancient city is inhabited by Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, and Assyrians. Despite all the political agreements, the panel pointed out, the dispute remains unsolved between Baghdad and Erbil, and between the different local communities as well.
“The Future of Kirkuk, A Roadmap for Resolving the Status of the Province,” brought together the panel of Hasan Toran, member of Iraqi parliament, Rakan Saeed Aljobouri, deputy governor of Kirkuk, Khalid Shwani, adviser to the president of Iraq, and Daniel Augustburger, head of United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq office in Kirkuk.
The panel came after MERI published its Kirkuk research project this summer which focused on key reasons why Kirkuk is still so highly contested. The report proposed creative solutions for a better future for the people of the province.
Not all the panelist were in complete agreement with the MERI report.
Iraqi PM Toran criticized the Kirkuk report’s alleged exclusion of the “historical suffering” of minority groups and claimed it instead focused on the injustices endured by Kurds.
“The institute should also include the injustice faced by Turkmens in the past,” Toran said.
He added that any future referendum needs to follow the model of a “confirmation referendum” as has been explained in the UN’s 2009 special report on Kirkuk and not a “hostile referendum” that will only worsen the current ethnic and cultural problems.
The protection of Peshmerga forces in the province since June 2014 and the ongoing ISIS assaults in the area were also part of the discussion.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces secured Kirkuk and reinforced troops stationed there to prevent the city from falling into extremist hands. Kirkuk has been regarded by some Kurds as the potential capital of a future state.
“We should not forget the role of Peshmerga in protecting many areas in Kirkuk since the Daesh [ISIS] war, but we also need the federal government to engage and help us in the battle against the militants,” Deputy Governor Aljobouri said.
Even so, he said the role of other ethnic groups, notably Arabs, must not be forgotten by reaearch groups such as MERI who are working on the future of Kirkuk.
“We have 25 percent of Kirkuk province who are Arabs. There is no mention of this ethnicity in the MERI reports,” Aljobouri claimed.
The UN’s pointed out the humanitarian issues in the province due to the war against ISIS.
“The people of Kirkuk have opened their doors to half a million Iraqi IDPs and refugees. I repeat a half a million displaced people live inside Kirkuk. This has put enormous pressure on the finances of the governorate,” he said.
Like several of the panelists, Shwani, the presidential advisor, noted that Kirkuk had often been caught between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi central government.
“The Baghdad government should know Kirkuk is not a political tool to put pressure on Kurds and the KRG,” he said.
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