September 17, 2023 14:40
Denge Kurdistan TV Hüseyin İşli interviews Fuat Önen
-What has been going on in Kirkuk, the heart of Kurdistan, lately in August? What would you like to tell us?
-Now, let’s start with Iraq first. Actually the problem; It is a matter of what kind of state the Iraqi State is or will be. After the American invasion in 2003, the Iraqi state apparatus disintegrated. In 2005, a constitution was adopted. According to this constitution, Southern Kurdistan was accepted as a federated state. However, I don’t know if there is such an example anywhere else in the world, but it seems to me that there cannot be a federal state with only one federated state.
After all, if the federated state is one, if the federated region is one, this federated state turns into a part of the central state. If there were more than one federated region, let’s say there were three federated states, there would be a federal state above them. It would be a federal state in which all three federated states would be represented. However, it was initially planned that the artificial Arabs would turn into a federated state. It didn’t happen.
As a result, the central state in Baghdad remained the Federated State of Southern Kurdistan, centered in Hewlêr. However, since 2005; De facto relations continue that do not comply with any rules, any constitutional rules. So, if this state is federated, that is, the state of Southern Kurdistan, if it is federated, it must have its own independent economy. The central state cannot determine the economy of the federated state. But this doesn’t work. The central state may not send the federated state’s share of the budget whenever it wishes.
You must have read it recently. Instead of the one and a half trillion dinars they were supposed to give to the federal state, they sent five hundred billion dollars. When the federal state objects to this; They said, “We will send another five hundred billion, we will send it for civil servant salaries.” There is such an actual situation. Of course, in the face of this, the federated state could no longer comply with the constitution. He is trying to govern the federated region by selling oil abroad and using the revenues from oil. So, ultimately, it is a de facto relationship. A de jure relationship; A relationship based on law and norms has not been established between Baghdad and Erbil since 2005 – for 18 years – and Baghdad has always; tried to force Erbil by using economi to behave as Bagdat will.
It is not the only thing. As you know, during the Maliki period, they also created a force such as the Tigris Operation Force. This was an operation force established to threaten the federated region. The reasons for this are; The Iraqi state is a state established in the post-occupation environment with a de facto balance based on actual forces. However, since 2003, the Iraqi state has not been able to transform into a serious state based on institutions.
The USA tried to reorganize the Iraqi state through the Kurds. You know; At first, they brought an Ahmet Çelebi, but then it turned out that he was a CIA agent, that he was taking money, etc. Then Mam Jalal became the President of Iraq. And at that time, with some kind of agreement; Well, “The President of Iraq will be from Kurdistan, the speaker of the Parliament will be from artificial Arabs, and the Prime Minister will be from Shiite Arabs.” They have been trying to rebuild this state – let’s say with such an agreement – for 18 years. This is not going to be built. Because they have been trying to create a “nation” for the Iraqi state for 100 years. They are trying to create an Iraqi nation.
It is not possible. Because there are different national truths there. In other words, there is the reality of a Kurdish nation. There is also the reality of the Arab nation. The Arab nation is actually divided within itself; They are divided into “Suni Arabs-Shia Arabs”. Even the Arab communities, let alone the Kurds, cannot show the character of a nation. In fact, the solution to this is the disintegration of the Iraqi State.
But for 100 years; They cannot create a nation for this state, which operated with the intervention of the USA, both during the Kingdom of Iraq period, during the subsequent coups, during the Baath period, during the periods supported by the Soviets, and for the last twenty years, with the intervention of the USA. It is not possible for them to create it, this is allso my oppinion.
If we look at Kurdistan region – which is, the region we call Central Southern Kurdistan – we have a fundamental problem there as well: This is our fundamental problem with the state formation mentality of the two main parties in Southern Kurdistan, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party. For twenty years, these two parties have not been able to reach an understanding of establishing a common state. They didn’t kind of transcend the party-state mentality.
So what needed to be done in these past twenty years? National Army, National Security, National Economy, National Foreign Policy, these had to be formed, and separate state institutions had to be established in the region and work in harmony.
However, as a result; So which party is more right and which party is more wrong? There’s not much use discussing this. But as a result, in the past twenty years; I mean, I’m not counting the period between 1993 and 2003, the parliament was established in ninety-three, you know, in these twenty years, none of these paths to nationalization were used. As a result, there is a dual power situation there. Sulaymaniyah center The government of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Erbil-based Kurdistan Democratic Party, not counting other party members. I don’t count because:
Because these two political parties are the main military power. Each of them has nearly a hundred thousand peshmerga soldiers. And they are doomed to each other. They can’t do without each other. But these two parties cannot come together for a common goal of nationalization. This is the main reason for the troubles we have been suffering for twenty years: A separate armed force, a separate security force, a separate intelligence and a separate economy. So, when you enter Southern Kurdistan from Northern Kurdistan, the economy in the region up to Erbil seems to be dominated by Turkey. This time, when you go beyond Erbil towards Halabja and Sulaymaniyah; Iran seems strong in terms of economy. In other words, they not only failed to ensure the unity of the armed forces. They could not achieve an economic union either.
It is not possible to solve the fundamental problems of Central Southern Kurdistan without overcoming this fundamental problem. Because only based on this, their relations with Baghdad and other occupying states in the region; However, they can solve it with a common national stance. Now, when we come to the latest events, the beginning of these events started in October, after the 2017 referendum, when Hashd al-Shaabi and Baghdad forces attacked Kurdistan.
After this attack, approximately forty-five percent of Central Southern Kurdistan came under the control of the Baghdad regime and Hashd al-Shaabi. The reason why I emphasize Hashd al-Shaabi here is; In fact, this is not only the invasion of Iraq, but also the occupation of Iran. Because Hashti Shaabi is actually a gang affiliated with the Iranian regime. In other words, it did not have an official function in the beginning. They later link them as a part to Iraqi military forces. But that attack; In other words, the attack after the referendum was not just an attack by the Iraqi state. Iran and Turkey were also behind this attack. After this attack, forty-five percent of Southern Kurdistan’s territory came under occupation again.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party withdrew from Kirkuk at that time. And the head of the region at that time, Kek Massoud Barzani, who was also the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Kirkuk is now under occupation. For this reason, we will not participate in the elections there. They closed all party offices and main headquarters and retreated to Erbil. As you know, the attack was continuing at that time, Iraq and Hashd al-Shaabi stopped an attack in the Pirde Region. Both Southern Kurdistan PDK forces, Eastern Kurdistan PDK forces, and Partiya Azadiya Kurdistan forces in Eastern Kurdistan together stopped that attack in Pirde. After stopping, Mesut Barzani said: “Kirkuk is under occupation. “I do not participate in the elections there.” For this reason, in the provincial council elections held there, the majority passed to Arabs. PUK and other parties continued to participate in provincial council elections there.
Now, at the end of this year, provincial council elections will be held there again. This time, the Kurdistan Democratic Party decided to return to Kirkuk and participate in those elections. Now is this decision right or wrong? It is open to discussion. In other words, if Kirkuk was under occupation in 2017 and it was not legitimate to participate in elections there, that occupation continues today. I don’t know what kind of conversations took place behind the scenes. But the Kurdistan Democratic Party decided to give up this decision and return to their previously vacated offices and headquarters in order to participate in the Kirkuk provincial council elections to be held at the end of this year.
Thereupon, the Turkmen National Front in Kirkuk, this is not a separate party, but an organization established by the Turkish National Intelligence Organization. They are not representative of the Turkmens there either. Many other Turkmen parties and movements; In fact, they are positive about the Kurdistan Democratic Party coming to Kirkuk. But a group clustered around the Turkmen national front and trained and armed by Turkish intelligence objected to this. Hasht al-Shaabi forces also objected to this. Together, they tried to block the Kirkuk-Hewlêr road. They closed the Kirkuk-Erbil road to traffic in order to prevent the Peshmerga transfer from there or the Kurdistan Democratic Party cadres from entering Kirkuk.
For the first three days, the Iraqi state did not intervene in these demonstrations. In other words, there was no intervention of any kind in these anti-PDK, actually anti-Kurdistan, demonstrations under the control of the Iraqi public order, the Hashti Shaabi public order. On the fourth day; Kurds in Kirkuk demonstrated themselves and expressed their reactions to this attack. Thereupon, guns were fired on the demonstrators and as far as I know, four people were martyred and around thirty were injured. Fifty-sixty people were also detained. This is how the conflict developed.
Now, first of all, we need to question this: Why was Kirkuk considered disputed territory? In other words, when the Iraqi state was falling apart in 2003, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party first decided to send peshmerga to Kirkuk together. PUK sent its Peshmerga before PDK. PDK sent also pesmerga as answer. In other words, if the Peshmerga affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party had entered Kirkuk together, Kirkuk would be no different from Hewlêr(Erbil) in terms of being Kurdish.
But when they sent Peshmerga there against each other and the possibility of civil conflict arose again, in line with the intervention of the USA and especially the request of England, nearly forty percent of the Kurdistan territory was declared a disputed area. It was declared as disputed territory. And it was said: In two years, here, here, I believe, is the one hundred and fortieth article of the constitution; First a census will be held, and then a referendum will be held. Local people; If it wishes, it will remain within the Federal State of Kurdistan. A referendum clause was added stating that if they do not want to, they will remain loyal to Baghdad.
So, since 2007; Behold, sixteen years have passed; However, this issue has not been resolved. There is one reason why it is not resolved: The Iraqi state does not consent to Kirkuk, which we consider the heart of Kurdistan, to remain in Kurdistan. And he keeps postponing it. So, is it just the Baghdad administration that is delaying? No. Mam Jalal was the president of Iraq for two terms. And in the period until two thousand and seventeen, many times in fact; If these two parties had agreed, they could have imposed the referendum on Iraq. In other words, since 2005, for eighteen years, the Arab head of state has been a Kurdistani. However, they took this issue seriously and instead of solving it legally, they tried to solve it practically. Especially after DAESH occupied Mosul, after it captured Mosul, all the Arab-Iraqi security forces there withdrew and suddenly a good opportunity arose for the Kurds. The entire region, called the disputed region, came under the control of the Kurdistan Peshmerga.
Such a referendum could have been held at that time, but it was not held. When the independence referendum in September 2017 came to the agenda, this time the superpowers questioned whether the referendum should be held in the disputed lands or not. And the United States, England, France and the United Nations representative insisted that this referendum should either be postponed, or if not postponed, it should not be held in disputed lands. That period; All Kurdistan parties led by Massoud Barzani gathered and decided that a referendum would be held and that it would also be held in the disputed lands, and the referendum as we know it was held.
In fact, when we look at the results of this referendum, there is no need to even hold a separate referendum, depending on the one hundred and fortieth article. Because, for example, there were more independence votes in Xanikin than in Erbil. The highest number of independence votes were cast in the region called Xanikin. And this is one of the so-called disputed lands.
Against this, the Iraqi state, with the connivance of the USA and the main guidance of the UK, and with the support of Iran and Turkey, re-occupied the so-called disputed lands.
Now, if the Kurdistan Democratic Party is to return to Kirkuk, it must first do so in agreement with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. We don’t know if they are having such conversations in the background.
But when we look at the statements coming from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan front, we conclude that there is no such agreement. Because if it had been reached by compromise; The Iraqi Arab side could not have reacted so rudely to this. As a result; That is, before 2017, the headquarters and offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party were there, and they are returning to those places again. There is no reason to object to this.
But we are back to square one again. And the conflict between PUK and PDK; In Kirkuk, it emerged as a serious problem again.
Now there is also a federal court in Iraq. This federal court makes decisions based on Iran rather than Iraq. In this federal court; ruled that PDK’s return to Kirkuk was not legal.This federal court had made many such unreasonable decisions about Kurdistan before.
Will this tension continue? How long will it take? It is not possible to say anything definitive right now. But what I see from where I stand is this: The Iraqi state, with the support of Iran and Turkey, is trying to erode the Federated status of Southern Kurdistan. This issue was discussed again last term; Well, Baghdad will pay the salaries of civil servants in Kurdistan. They even demanded that the money sent to the provinces by the PUK be sent to the provinces, not to the government.
This was a very dangerous undertaking. This initiative of the PUK was a very dangerous initiative. Anyway, it was not accepted. Because if you start sending the budget allocated to the provinces to the provinces instead of the federal government, the result desired by these three occupying states will occur: the Federated Status in Southern Kurdistan will be eroded. Instead, the autonomous provinces project comes into play. And so I see; The Iraqi state will try to realize this project to the extent that it has become stronger since 2005. Since there is no other federated region, it is difficult to talk about a serious federal state there.
After all, power determines this. As the Iraqi state settles into place and becomes stronger, they will try to change the federated status of Kurdistan and impose the status of autonomous provinces. This is also; what both Iran and Turkey want. Maybe we will come to the role of Türkiye and Iran behind these later.
However, I consider these conflicts; In other words, I find it positive that Arabs and Turkmens are attacking the Kurds and having such a conflict in Kirkuk. Because we have not yet settled accounts with the Iraqi state.
Now, the main invader of Kurdistan is the Iraqi State. In 2003, a de facto situation occurred. The state fell apart. A De Facto federated state structure emerged on top of it. And since then, there has been a dangerous political approach in all four parts of Kurdistan. It is the understanding that all problems can be solved by talking. In other words, the freedom of Kurdistan, the independence of Kurdistan is a matter of revolution. This can only be done with force. We have not yet fought and won this war in Southern Kurdistan.
I hope that this attack on Kurdish people in Kirkuk by the Turkmens under the control of Turkey and the Arabs controlled by Iran and Iraq will lead our political party members in Southern Kurdistan to rethink. There is nothing gained or guaranteed yet in Southern Kurdistan. The way to achieve this depends on these two main parties forming a serious political union with the goal of nationalization.
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