LAST NEWS ABOUT KIRKUK/ KURDISTAN

[Anthea]

US urges calm as Kirkuk crisis escalates

The US has called for "calm" after Iraqi government forces seized the northern city of Kirkuk and key installations from Kurdish control.

State department spokeswoman Heather Nauert urged all parties to "avoid further clashes".

Iraqi soldiers moved into Kirkuk three weeks after the Kurdistan Region held a controversial independence referendum.

They are aiming to retake areas under Kurdish control since Islamic State militants swept through the region.

Residents of Kurdish-controlled areas, including Kirkuk, overwhelmingly backed secession from Iraq in a vote on 25 September.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-41646806#

[Piling]

And the KRG is still obstinately mute… Nothing from Barzani, Kosrat Rasul, nor Najm ad din Kareem (the former governor of Kirkuk).

[Piling]

On Iraqi TV, Nouri Maliki says that after 48 h, Iraqi army will enter in Erbil. At this point of mess, I could not even find it unbelievable.

[Anthea]

On Iraqi TV, Nouri Maliki says that after 48 h, Iraqi army will enter in Erbil. At this point of mess, I could not even find it unbelievable.

Nouri Maliki HATES Kurds and would say anything to cause more confusion and make matters worse

You are CORRECT it is a mess

Barzani should have declared independence immediately after the referendum

Kurds are far too kind and helpful - taking in over 2 million refugees fleeing ISIS, many of them Iraqi Arabs - and fighting alongside Iraqi Arabs to help free Iraq from ISIS

KURDS SHOULD HAVE LET THEM DIE

[Piling]

Barzani statement about events (extremely vague, empty words, very disappointing (I bold the only facts he revealed):

Kurdistan people for decades faced genocide, mass killings and oppression. Heroically we defended our land and identity. Never sought war , always wars were imposed on us.

What happened in Kirkuk was the result of unilateral decision of few people within a specific party. The aftermath withdrawal of forces based on our agreement with Iraqi government & coalition to lines before Mosul operation.

We reassure our people we will do whatever is necessary to protect and keep the stability of Kurdistan region. We stress for national unity in this critical moment, ask media outlets to serve national unity.

For all peshmerga forces , mature families and the people of Kurdistan, your voice for the independence of Kurdistan which you casted and was heard by the word, will not go in vain and we Will not allow to go in vain.

The people of Kurdistan , with your will and strong determination , sooner or later we will reach our goal. Today is the day for keeping our unity, pass difficult moments and strong believe in our people strength.

I don't know if Barzani is in shock or deliberately hide most of deal.

[dyaoko]

Shia Militias started looting and stealing kurdish houses in Kerkuk and setting them on fire.
at the same time Iraqi Prime Minster announced, now the refferandum is over and it belongs to the past

Picture of shia militas entering kurdish civilian houses and looting.
https://twitter.com/HolbiMajd/status/920319462670258181

What Ebadi does NOT undrestand is, Refferandum and vote of people is not something that can be deleted by American weapons. Votes are Votes. Kurdish people voted to be independent from a wild uncivilized people like you. and no matter what american weapon you use against us, our Vote can not be deleted by weapons.

[Anthea]

If a burglar breaks into YOUR home would YOU give him the opportunity to vote on whether he is allowed to remain in YOUR home on not?

According to Human Rights Watch, from the 1991 Gulf War until 2003, the former Iraqi government systematically expelled an estimated 500,000 Kurds from Kirkuk and other towns and villages in this oil-rich region. Kurds who had legally owned homes and businesses, many others who had farmed the land, all lost EVERYTHING

The Iraqi government took all the homes, businesses and farms (including any and all expensive machinery), and chased all the Kurds out of Kirkuk. They did not just resettle Arab families in their place. The Iraqi government actually PAID Arabs to move to Kirkuk and take over stolen Kurdish property, businesses and all the possessions Kurds were forced to leave as they ran for their lives

Many Kurds eventually managed to return to Kirkuk. Though even up until the Iraqi invasion, some Kurds were still trying to reclaim their property through the courts

Now all the suffering is being repeated and Kurdish kindness is being repaid with violence

The Kurdish vote for freedom should not go unheeded - the Kurdish voice will not be silenced

The Kurdish government thought that it could negotiate a peaceful separation from Iraqi control. After all the UK voted to leave the EU - there may be a lot of shouting but the UK does not expect the EU to invade. But the Kurdish government foolishly allowed themselves to believe that Iraqis had become more civilised since the removal of Saddam - BIG MISTAKE

[Anthea]

'Years of effort lost in 40 minutes': Kurds who fled Kirkuk still in shock

Erbil (CNN)When Iraqi government forces seized control of the contested city of Kirkuk on Monday, hundreds of Kurdish families were sent scattering to nearby safe havens.

The swift military operation came just weeks after Iraqi Kurds voted overwhelmingly for independence in a controversial referendum that was condemned by the United States and Baghdad.

The loss of Kirkuk and its nearby oil fields is a setback for Kurds, who have held the city -- home to more than one million people -- for the last three years. The Kurds took control of the city after it was abandoned by Iraqi forces during ISIS' lightning offensive in 2014, but it lies outside the recognized borders of the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government.

Now, driven out of Kirkuk, with their dreams of building a separate nation in northern Iraq suffering a major setback, displaced Kurds are still reeling.

From noisy cafés and bars, to the quiet of people's homes, everyone in Erbil -- the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq -- is trying to make sense of what happened.

Many of the Kirkuk residents who fled to Erbil for fear of potential clashes expressed their displeasure, grief, and shock that Iraqi troops -- backed by Shia militias known as the Popular Mobilization Units -- were able to take the city in a single day.
The same forces were later cheered on by Arab and Turkmen residents on Monday as they removed a Kurdish flag that had flown over the Kirkuk governor's office.

"The shock is too great and I cannot imagine what happened overnight, especially after all the threat and intimidation of the Peshmerga forces against those approaching the province," Samal Omar, a 33-year-old government employee, told CNN.
"We fled to Erbil before noon on Monday when we heard that the Popular Mobilization [Units] would enter Kirkuk for fear of aggression."

Some Kurdish civilians said they took up arms and deployed to the streets in an attempt to ward off the Iraqi army operation.
One of them, Mohamed Werya, 37, said he didn't sleep for two consecutive days before fleeing Erbil.

"I saw officials leave and I said to myself, 'why should I stay and danger my life and my family?'" Werya said, describing chaotic scenes as people scrambled to flee the city. "What I saw on the road I have not seen before, only during the [Kurdish] uprising of 1991."

"Who is responsible for what happened?" he asked. A version of the same question was echoed by other Kurds.

"I cannot express my sorrow and my displeasure. But the question is, why did the Peshmerga forces withdraw? Why they did not they tell us earlier and we lived in a strong feeling that there was someone defending us?" Abu Mahmoud, 55, asked.
"I did not expect the effort of many years lost in 40 minutes," he added.

There was still much confusion over what transpired during the clashes between Iraqi and Kurdish forces, with reports of a split between Kurdish factions. The Peshmerga General Command accused members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, a political party within the Kurdistan region, of abandoning their posts as Iraqi forces entered, in what it described as a betrayal.

"No one understands what exactly happened," said Fouad Aziz, 40, who fled Kirkuk for Sulaymaniyah, while his brother went to Erbil. "There are accusations against the Kurdish parties in the region, some accused of deception and leaving the fighting sites."

"We were welcomed by the people of Erbil and Sulaymaniyah in a way we did not expect," he added.
Dozens of young people lined the road to Erbil on Monday, handing out food and water to those fleeing, while other Erbil residents opened their doors to those displaced by the fighting.

Abu Nebez, 55, said he hosted dozens in his home. "I welcomed in my house seven families consisting of 37 people, 14 of whom we do not know," Nebez said. "They were on the main road in a deplorable condition when they fled from Kirkuk to Erbil."

On Tuesday, some Kurdish residents began to trickle back into Kirkuk, wary of what might come next.

Qais Book, a Kurdish blogger and social media consultant who lives in Kirkuk, stayed behind as others fled on Monday.
He watched the celebration in the governor's square, as Arab and Turkmen residents celebrated.

"There are many different feelings in the city now," Book said. "Some people feel disappointed about what happened, especially the Kurdish people, and some of the Arabs, because they were loyal to the Kurds here. And they feel sorry because many Kurdish families left their houses here and fled to Kurdistan."

"The city is calm now, but people are waiting to see what happens next."

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/17/middl ... index.html

[Anthea]

Kurdish language barred at Kirkuk press conference

The head of Kirkuk police was prevented from speaking in Kurdish during a press conference held by security officials and the new governor, appointed by the prime minister.

The interim Governor of Kirkuk Rakan Ali al-Jabouri, who is an Arab and was appointed on Monday by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to replace Najmaldin Karim, held the press conference on Tuesday afternoon after a meeting of Kirkuk’s security institutions, including the Iraqi army.

The focus of his presser was to convey the message that Kirkuk is in safe hands and those who fled the military operations on Monday should return to their homes.

Police Chief Omar Khatab, a Kurd, attempted to speak in Kurdish, but was blocked by Ali Fazil Omran, commander of the Iraqi Tigris Operation whose forces entered Kirkuk on Monday.

“Speak in Arabic,” Omran told Khatab when the Kurdish police officer tried to speak in his mother language.

He was prevented from speaking in Kurdish two more times – once when a Turkmen member of the provincial council asked the commander to permit the language and again when answering a question asked in Kurdish by a Rudaw reporter.

In the end, Omran agreed to allow Khatab to speak in Kurdish after the press conference was over.

Kurdish is an official language in Iraq, alongside Arabic, as stated in the constitution.

The commanders of the Iraqi forces and the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi took down the Kurdistan flag in a ceremony on Monday and raised the Iraqi one in its place at the Kirkuk Provincial Council building.

“We have come not as liberators, but as part of the redeployment of the security institutions to the province of Kirkuk,” Omran said.

He said the Iraqi army will be responsible to protect state installations, infrastructure, and will be in control of the province’s borders, including the Kurdistan Region provinces of Erbil and Sulaimani.

Security inside the city will be provided by the province’s police forces, he said.

Interim Governor Jabouri said he is in charge until a new arrangement can be made with regard to the city’s local government.

“We are the administration of Kirkuk according to the law,” he said.

He, like the security officials, said the city’s residents who fled on Monday fearing violence, should return as quickly as possible to protect their properties from looting.

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/171020175

[Anthea]

How Iran helped Baghdad seize back Kirkuk
Fazel Hawramy is an independent journalist currently based in Iraqi Kurdistan. Twitter: @FazelHawramy

Around 8 p.m. on Oct. 15, an Iranian general from the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accompanied by Iraqi Commanders Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Hadi al-Ameri sat down with the Kurdish commanders in Kirkuk. The IRGC commander, known only by his surname, Eqbalpour, who works closely with Quds Force chief Qasem Soleimani, told the Kurds to give up the city peacefully. “If you resist, we will crush you and you will lose everything,” the general warned the peshmerga commanders, a source with intimate knowledge of the meeting told Al-Monitor.

The Kurdish leadership had turned down repeated requests by Soleimani to cancel the Sept. 25 independence referendum, to his indignation. The peshmerga commanders who had fought Saddam Hussein’s army alongside Soleimani and other IRGC commanders in the 1980s knew that the Quds Force commander would take his revenge. After consulting with the top Kurdish leadership, the peshmerga commanders told Eqbalpour that they would not give up Kirkuk.

The Iranian commander took out a map of the area and spread it out in front of his Kurdish counterparts. “This is our military plan. We will hit you tonight from three points — here, here and here,” the Quds Force officer stated, and then left the meeting with his entourage.

Not far from the main Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) building in Kirkuk, where the meeting took place, a group of American military advisers sat at the sprawling K1 air base. The soldiers would keep their silence as Soleimani and the Iraqis orchestrated the attacks on Kirkuk. One Kurdish official even suggested that there must have been an international agreement to launch such a coordinated strike. The Kurds were in for a big surprise.

Just after midnight, in the early hours of Oct. 16, the Iraqis attacked from the points that the Iranian general had identified, and by 8 p.m. — despite fierce resistance by some of the peshmerga — the Iraqis were taking over the city as Kurdish officials and commanders fled. Three peshmerga sources, including two majors, were adamant that they had seen Persian-speaking soldiers wearing the uniforms of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) alongside the Iraqis.

How the Kurdish peshmerga were defeated so fast is disputed, but lack of ammunition and the longstanding rivalry between the PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) played an important part. "I fought for four hours and we did not allow the [PMU] to come forward,” said Maj. Nihad, a peshmerga commander in his mid 30s who fought south of the city near the Shiite town of Taza. “We could not continue simply because we had no more ammunition.”

As the Iraqis took control of the city, thousands of Kurdish civilians and peshmerga fled to Erbil and Sulaimaniyah. "They sold us, the [Kurdish] officials sold us,” one peshmerga told Al-Monitor in Qarahanjir, just to the east of Kirkuk, as thousands of desperate and bewildered Kurdish civilians drove their vehicles toward Sulaimaniyah. Kurdish officials could be seen fleeing through the hills in their four-wheel-drive vehicles. Angry crowds along the road near Sulaimaniyah jeered at the officials.

Immediately after their collapse in Kirkuk, KDP and PUK officials accused each other of treason and traded barbs. The KDP accused one wing of the PUK of reaching a secret agreement with Baghdad to sell out the Kurds, while PUK officials said Massoud Barzani, the de facto president of the Kurdistan Region, is reaping what he sowed for his obstinacy in going ahead with the independence referendum against the advice of the Kurds’ closest allies. The two sides also accused each other of looting Kirkuk’s oil and siphoning off millions of dollars in the process.

It appears that Iran succeeded in helping Baghdad squeeze the Kurds and retake all the disputed territories from them. US President Donald Trump said his administration would not side with any party in an internal matter.

While Iran may be buoyant about its success, the Kurdish public is angry and feels betrayed by both Soleimani and the Kurdish leadership. But as the Kurds try to make sense of losing so much after the referendum, Iran may come to regret its decision to humiliate the Kurdish public in the long run. The sense of humiliation is palpable across to the Kurdistan Region. “I have picked up my father’s Kalashnikov to defend my town,” said a young man on Oct. 16, sitting on a hill just outside Kirkuk and clinging to his rusty gun. With tears in his eyes, Garmiyan,18, said that he would not run away and would rather die defending his hometown as he looked down on the road jammed with vehicles fleeing the city.

Anti-Iran sentiment is now growing in the Kurdistan Region, despite how the Kurds have generally seen Iran, a country that they have often turned to in times of need. When Saddam’s regime launched chemical attacks in 1988, the Kurds turned to Iran; again, in 1991, as Saddam’s army attacked Kurdish areas in the aftermath of the Gulf War, many were housed by Iran. By and large, the Kurds see themselves as ethnically closer to Iranians than to Arabs and Turks because of their thousands of years of shared history.

Tehran’s assistance to Baghdad in this episode of Iraq's tumultuous history may thus ultimately hurt Tehran's influence in the Kurdistan Region, while for Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi the Shiite commanders may have already become too powerful to contain.

There is no doubt that the Kurdish leadership is guilty of monumental miscalculations by pushing ahead with an ill-timed referendum. But given the reactions to their policies, both Washington and Tehran are likely to come to regret humiliating the Kurdish public in years to come.

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/origina ... lpour.html

[Anthea]

Commission halts preparations for November 1 elections

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Election preparations have been halted two weeks before the Kurdistan Region was to go to the polls, the electoral commission announced on Wednesday.

A council of the High Independent Electoral and Referendum Commission “decided to halt all the preparations for the elections of November 1, 2017, because of not having candidates at the specified time and current new developments,” read the statement.

The commission said it is waiting for the Kurdistan parliament to make a decision on the matter.

Presidential and parliamentary elections were scheduled to be held simultaneously on November 1.

Parliament was scheduled to sit on Wednesday but the session has been postponed because of disagreements among the parties on delaying the elections, according to information obtained by Rudaw.

Abubakir Haladni, the head of the parliamentary bloc of the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), said their faction will boycott the parliamentary session that was to discuss delaying the elections.

“The Islamic Union’s faction will boycott the parliamentary session. We are prepared to hold the elections whenever,” Haladni said.

“We participated in the reactivation of the parliament so that the parliament plays its role in attending to decisive questions and nullifying the unfair decision of reduced salaries,” he explained.

He believes parliament should be focused on more pressing matters in the wake of the loss of territory to Iraqi forces this week.

“Kurdistan’s parliament should have discussed the unfortunate situations of Kurdistan which led to the loss of large territories of Kurdistan and the squandering of the blood of thousands of martyrs. Instead, they are engaging the parliament with the secondary issue of elections,” he said.

Twenty-one political entities had registered for the parliamentary elections. Official campaigning had not yet begun.

The deadline for candidates to register for presidential elections passed without anyone submitting their name for the top post. Gorran fielded a candidate but the electoral commission said his paperwork was submitted late.

Current President Masoud Barzani has stated that he will not run again. He also ruled out any of his family members seeking the presidency.

The Kurdistan Region last held parliamentary elections in 2013. The presidential election has not been held since 2009.

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/181020173

[dyaoko]

Kurdistan24 announced, their news channels is banned in Kerkuk.
at same time, Kurdistan24 reported their TV waves are being attacked by radio jamming. a technique which is widely used inside Iran to prevent any foreign TVs.
Source:
http://www.kurdistan24.net/so/news/ddbf ... 5d03699fe8
http://www.kurdistan24.net/so/news/4bdd ... 14b67b89d8


A sad day for freedom of speech, a sad day for America for being on the side of the Shia militias without believing in Freedom of Speech. I am terribly sorry for USA. they chose the wrong side.

Meanwhile Kosrat Rasul a PUK commander, said a few people in his party betrayed Kurdistan for their temporary personal gains and they belong to the darkest page of history of Kurdistan. he also said, world proved to Kurds once again, we have no friends but mountains.
Source:
http://www.kurdistan24.net/so/news/afb2 ... 3233ebeff9

[Anthea]

PUK leader: Kurdistan faces real threat of civil war

A senior leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has warned that the Kurdistan Region may split, leading to a civil war that would allow regional and international powers to interfere in internal affairs.

Some elements of the PUK, particularly family members of the late former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, have been accused of cooperating with Iraqi forces in the fall of Kirkuk. The Talabani family denies the accusations.

Mala Bakhtiyar, executive head of the PUK politburo office, said “there is a grave danger” of the Kurdistan Region splitting into two administrations.

This “is expected to cause civil war and regional and international interference,” he warned in a published statement.

The Kurdistan region used to be governed by two administrations during and after the civil war of mid 1990s. The PUK controlled Sulaimani and Halabja, otherwise called the Green Zone, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) controlled Erbil and Duhok, the Yellow Zone.

The two parties pushed for unification after the US-led invasion of Iraq that resulted in one united Erbil-controlled Kurdistan Regional Government.

The parties’ Peshmerga and intelligence services were never integrated.

Bakhtiyar said his party is now being controlled by one family who are making decisions outside the party’s organs and this is something he does not accept. He said the PUK is also on the brink of a “big split.”

He called on the Kurdistan parliament to open an independent investigation into what exactly happened in Kirkuk and other areas abandoned to the Iraqi forces. Based on that investigation, those responsible should be accused of misconduct. He asked for a similar mechanism within the PUK.

“I announce that I am against separation within the PUK and against the two-administration system. I also strongly oppose every other measure except for solving the PUK’s problems. I am therefore insisting that the PUK organs should have their full political powers. No individual or party should have the right to make decisions on behalf of PUK official organs, or to hold meetings with anyone,” Bakhtiyar said.

Bakhtiyar said he will not attend any meeting held outside the official framework of the PUK’s organs.

He said that the current situation, especially in the media, has created an atmosphere of hatred that may be followed by revenge attacks.

Kosrat Rasul, PUK deputy head and Kurdistan’s vice president, and Hero Ibrahim Ahmad, from the Talabani family, earlier exchanged accusations regarding the Kirkuk crisis.

Bakhtiyar said he supported serious consideration of the US-backed alternative to the referendum. He said he raised this point in all meetings between the PUK and KPD and other parties as well as the High Referendum Council. He chose not to make his stance public, however, in order to not discourage people from voting for independence.

He had hinted at this position, saying two weeks before the vote, “We from the PUK believe that the alternative should be taken very seriously."

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/181020174

THE PEOPLE HAVE VOTED FOR INDEPENDENCE

It is up to the politicians to follow the will of the people - that is what they were voted into office for - they do NOT have the right to go against the will of the people - nor do they have the right to try and change the will of the people for their own needs

[Anthea]

Rosneft signs production sharing agreements for Kurdistan oil fields

Russian state-controlled oil producer Rosneft has signed production sharing agreements for five oil blocks in Kurdistan, the autonomous region of Iraq whose recent independence referendum sparked armed conflict with Baghdad.

Rosneft said on Wednesday that it would pay as much as $400m for an 80 per cent stake in the five production blocks, of which $200m could be offset by oil production.

The company, which has emerged as the most active foreign oil major in the region, said that experimental production could begin next year, with full scale production possible in 2021. The total recoverable oil reserves at the five blocks may be about 670m barrels, it said.

Iraqi forces on Wednesday retook Kurdish-controlled areas near Mosul, even as Washington urged Baghdad to rein in its offensive in northern Iraq.

Rosneft’s push into Kurdistan has come as Moscow increases its clout in the Middle East, through its decisive role in the Syrian war, its new-found friendship with Saudi Arabia, and gas and nuclear power deals with Turkey.

https://www.ft.com/content/9f8453ad-7d0 ... 075ebf5199

[Anthea]

President Erdogan announces: No more aircraft from Erbil Describing the unlawful referendum in Iraq,

President Erdogan, on Turkey's investments, ' the airspace is now closed. No more flights from Erbil, because we are the most important airspace, ' he said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made important statements regarding agenda. Turkey's sanctions on administration of Barzani, president said: "Now, from above, food, medicine, clos, that's not going to come anymore. The airspace is closed now. No more flights from Erbil, because we are most important airspace. "

http://www.turkeytelegraph.com/breaking ... 13434.html