Parliament committee responds to misleading statements by Kirkuk acting governor

Kurdistan Parliament’s Committee on Kurdistani Areas outside the KRG Administrative Area issued the following statement in reiaction to false and misleading remarks made by the acting Governor of Kirkuk, Rakan Al-Jabouri, in an interview with Rudaw Media on 19 December:

In his TV interview with Rudaw media network, Rakan Al-Jabouri wanted to portray the situation in Kirkuk as being normal, when in fact conditions in the city have deteriorated ever since the events of 16 October 2017. He calls this abnormal situation law enforcement, wrongly implying that there was no rule of law in Kirkuk before the events. 

A governor imposed on Kirkuk by a decision in Baghdad cannot decide the fate of the city. Its fate must be determined by cooperation between the political forces and by implementing Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, which the Federal Court of Iraq has also insisted on.

He condemns the Peshmerga forces for killing political figures and carrying out kidnappings. It was the Peshmerga forces who protected the city from terrorist attacks and gave their lives to protect the public. Without the protection of the Peshmerga, the city of Kirkuk, like Mosul, would have fallen to ISIS terrorists because Iraqi forces would not have been able to defend themselves. The presence of the Peshmerga forces in the city was lawful and carried out under an agreement signed on 20th October 2010 by the US Defense Secretary, the Iraqi Interior Minister, the Peshmerga Minister, the KRG Interior Minister, the US Ambassador to Iraq, and the Commander of US forces.

The acting governor denies enciting Arabs to resettle in the areas, but admits that other people have been brought to Kirkuk province from other parts of Iraq without acknowledging that this affects elections and voting. The imposition of this de facto demographic change policy ultimately has a negative impact on the peaceful coexistence between the diverse people of Kirkuk.

We call for the principle of coexistence between the people of Kirkuk to be put into practice, for the problems in Kirkuk to be resolved and for the provisions of Article 140 of the Constitution to be implemented, as the only solution to the political situation in Kirkuk and its districts.