Iraq deploys special forces to Kirkuk in flag dispute

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Kirkuk council chief sentenced to 6 months jail in absentia

A Kirkuk court sentenced the head of the provincial council to six months in jail for spending millions of dinars illegally

Acting Kirkuk Provincial Council chief Rebwar Talabani is now living in Erbil and was sentenced in absentia.

The court said Talabani spent 76 million dinars ($63,750) “outside of legal measures” and sentenced him to six months jail time, issuing a warrant for the arrest of the missing politician.

"If the money is not returned, his case will be referred to the Criminal Court for a trial, even in absence of himself," the court ruling added.

The verdict has been sent to all government institutions and published in two local gazettes to make public the warrant for Talabani’s arrest.

Talabani’s party, the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), issued a statement slamming what it dubbed a “politically motivated” decision by the court that failed to maintain its neutrality.

"We are expressing our anger at the verdict and will take all the necessary political and legal measures to change this verdict,” the party stated, calling on other Kurdish parties to also take a stance based on loyalty to the homeland.

The head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Masoud Barzani, agrees that the court’s ruling is "completely political, not related to judicial or legal subjects" and aims to “punish” Talabani.

"Rebwar Talabani has stood against the violations of the constitution and law. As the head of Kirkuk Provincial Council, he defended the interests of all the components of Kirkuk,” Barzani said in a published statement.

Talabani himself was not immediately available for comment.

He had earlier told Rudaw that he had to leave Kirkuk because "there were threats to my life."

This is third legal proceeding against Talabani since he left Kirkuk for Erbil after the events of October 16, 2017 when Iraqi forces took control of the disputed province and many Kurdish politicians, business owners, and residents fled the city.

Previous cases against him related to his support for hoisting the Kurdistan flag at the provincial council building alongside the Iraqi one – the case was dismissed by a federal court – and abandoning his post when he left the city – this warrant was put on hold pending an appeal.

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/261220182

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KDP returns to Kirkuk, Hashd forces to withdraw under new deal

Kurdish and Iraqi leaders have agreed on the withdrawal of all Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary forces from Kirkuk and for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to return to the city more than a year after the October 16 events that changed the balance of power in the multiethnic city from Kurdish hands to the Iraqis

Shakhawan Abdulla, a member of the Kirkuk Situation Normalization Committee told Rudaw that the deal had been forged much earlier in Baghdad and they will "soon take effect to clear Kirkuk from all the multiple forces present in the city."

Abdulla added that "the Hashd al-Shaabi groups are ready to help normalize the situation of Kirkuk and for the KDP to return."

He predicted that it could be a gradual withdrawal in which a large number of the forces would leave the city in the first phase.

Rawand Mala Mahmood, a PUK official in Kirkuk confirmed to Rudaw that "Some agreements have been reached."

"We have asked for Kirkuk to be treated with according to the constitution," he added.

The KDP has repeatedly refused to return its offices to Kirkuk, the province "occupied."

A recent thaw in relations between Erbil and Baghdad however might make changes in Kirkuk, too.

The new Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi has said that it is in his genda to see an end to hostilities in the disputed areas.

Mahmood believes there is the will and "serious efforts" in Baghdad to solve the Kirkuk problem.

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/03012019

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The Kurdish Flag flies once again in Kirkuk

The PUK has put the Regional Administration flag, which was taken down throughout Kirkuk, back up in the official institutions under their control

Following the referendum in South Kurdistan, the Iraqi army, the federal police and the Hashd al-Shaabi forces intervened and took over Kirkuk and other disputed territories. In Mendeli, Khanaqin, Diyala, Tuz Khurmatu, Dakuk, Kirkuk and their surroundings the Regional Administration flags were taken down, as if there was a ban, which would in fact go against Iraqi law.

ITC WAS MOST GLAD

It was the ITC (Iraqi Turkmen Front) founded and fully supported by the MIT, who had been most glad when the South Kurdistan Regional Administration flag war taken down from all party and state institutions in Kirkuk and other disputed territories.

One and a half years later, last night the PUK Kirkuk chapter hoisted the Regional Administration flag in party offices and official institutions under PUK control in an unexpected twist.

MAMEND: OUR OWN DECISION

PUK Politbureau Member and Kirkuk Chapter officer Aso Mamend said: "There is no legal impediment to display the Kurdistan flag in Kirkuk or other disputed territories."

Mamend said they also celebrated Newroz in the Kirkuk Citadel last year like in previous years and they put up the Kurdistan flag.

Mamend said the people of Kirkuk should keep the peace and not have problems among constituents, and continued:

"We had the Kurdistan flag in PUK offices before, we never took it down. Other parties can also put up the Kurdistan flag alongside the Iraqi flag and their party flag. Not in general places though. We didn't make a deal with Iraqi or anti-terror forces, we put up the flag by our own decision.”

The Regional Administration flag being flown again has opened to discussion once again the situation of the KDP party offices that the Iraqi army forces and the Hashd al-Shaabi members use as headquarters in Kirkuk.

Mamend also spoke about this issue and said some KDP buildings had been evacuated before: "But nobody is keeping the KDP from returning to their party offices and their institutions.

WHY AT SUCH A TIME?

A politics expert who wishes to remain anonymous for security reasons said the dangerous efforts of Turkey's ambassador to Baghdad in Kirkuk through the ITC and the arming and training of ITC members had a role in this. The expert said Iraq is trying to stop Turkey's dirty tricks over Kirkuk by clearing the path for Kurdish forces to return to Kirkuk, and added: "They are trying to make sure that the PUK and other Kurdish forces return to Kirkuk in some manner with these steps. This is a positive development, but I believe that Iraq has decided to go down this path because they want to stop Turkey's dangerous tricks. This is a positive thing for Iraq, but I think it will pit the puk against Turkey once again over Kirkuk.

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PUK raises Kurdistan flag in disputed Kirkuk

The Kurdistan flag flies next to the banner of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) at their offices in Kirkuk

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has raised the flag of Kurdistan in the disputed city of Kirkuk, in defiance of a ban on the banner.

"The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has raised Kurdistan’s flag at all its offices in Kirkuk,” Ghafour Salih, deputy head of the party in the city, told Rudaw.

At Newroz celebrations for the new year two years ago, the provincial council first made the decision to raise the Kurdistan flag alongside the Iraqi one in the province that is claimed by both the federal and regional governments.

The controversial move, condemned by Baghdad, was done a few months before Kirkuk took part in Kurdistan’s independence referendum.

Iraqi forces took control of the province in the weeks after the vote and took down the Kurdistan flag. Then-Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim was ousted from his position because of his backing the referendum and the flag-raising.

Since October 2017, federal forces have confiscated Kurdistan flags and prohibited them being hoisted publicly.

The PUK denied there has been any “legal obstacle” to raising the Kurdistan flag in Kirkuk, saying that they had lowered the colours at all their offices after the death of their founder Jalal Talabani on October 3, 2017.

"Today, once again we formally re-raised Kurdistan, Iraqi, and PUK flags over our offices as a normal and legal thing,” the PUK office in Kirkuk said in a statement carried by their party’s media.

A jubilant crowd gathered in the streets of Kirkuk to celebrate

“It feels so good. We are very glad to see the Kurdistan flag being hoisted over offices in Kirkuk," said one man.

"This flag has given thousands of matyrs," said another, hoping the banner will stay at the top of the flagpole.

"Thanks be to God, now our flag is high. Kirkuk will always prevail," said another man.

Tensions over the disputed province appear to be easing with the new government in place in Baghdad. Kurdish and Iraqi leaders recently agreed that the Hashd al-Shaabi will withdraw from Kirkuk, meaning the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) can return.

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/080120192

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Iraq deploys special forces to Kirkuk in flag dispute

Iraqi special forces deployed Thursday in Kirkuk after the raising of the Kurdish flag over a political party headquarters revived tensions more than a year after Baghdad seized the disputed northern city. Iraq’s counterterrorism chief gave President Barham Saleh’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan until noon Friday to lower the red, white, green and yellow flag of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan

Under Iraq’s constitution, multiethnic Kirkuk province is controlled by the central government in the capital, Baghdad.

Kirkuk is one of several regions that Kurdish peshmerga fighters took over in 2014 as militants from Daesh (ISIS) swept through much of northern and western Iraq.

Angered by an independence referendum held in the three provinces of Iraqi Kurdistan as well as in disputed border areas including Kirkuk, Baghdad deployed federal forces to retake the oil-rich province in 2017. The vote saw more than 92 percent of Kurds back secession from Baghdad.

However, the federal government rejected the poll as “illegal,” imposed economic penalties and seized the disputed Kirkuk oil fields, halting exports.

In December Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan announced a deal to resume oil exports from Kirkuk.

Prime Minister Adel Abdel-Mahdi, seen as a consensual figure who has settled disputes between Kurdistan and Baghdad in the past, appealed to Saleh after the flag was raised Tuesday evening.

Abdel-Mahdi spoke by telephone to the president, who was on a visit to Qatar, the premier’s office said.

Abdel-Mahdi complained that flying the flag above party headquarters in Kirkuk was “a violation of the constitution.”

He suggested the matter be referred to the Supreme Court, which had ruled the independence referendum was illegal.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle ... spute.ashx