Archive for the ‘Kirkuk’ Category
Thousands of Iraqi Arabs attend anti-Kurdish protests in Tikrit
AFP
Thousands of Sunni and Shiite Arabs took to the streets across Iraq Saturday to defend Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki against criticism from leaders of the country’s Kurdish minority.
Demonstrations were held in the northern Sunni town of Tikrit — the hometown of executed dictator Saddam Hussein — the once-restive Sunni town of Hawijah, and the mostly Shiite southern cities of Karbala, Najaf, Nasiriyah, Samawah, and Hilla, AFP correspondents said.
They came out to protest remarks made earlier this week by Kurdish regional president Massud Barzani, who accused Maliki of illegally allying with tribes in areas with large Kurdish populations to expand the power of the state.
In his remarks Barzani had compared the tribal alliances — which Maliki refers to as “Support Councils” — to the so-called Jackass Brigades of Kurds who fought for Saddam against Kurdish rebels from the 1980s up until 2003. Read the rest of this entry »
Iraqi Kurdish official says ready to share administration in Kirkuk
Hurriyet
The Kurdish regional administration in northern Iraq is ready to share the administration of Kirkuk with the other ethnic groups in the province, the local leader told Turkey’s state-run Anatolian Agency.
Nechirvan Barzani, the leader of the local administration in northern Iraq, said not only Kurds, but also Turkmen, Arabs and Assyrians were living in Kirkuk.
“The parties should not have concern over the matter,” Barzani said, adding the regional administration in northern Iraq wanted Kirkuk to be managed in a fair way as a Kurdish region.
Barzani said the problem in Kirkuk, an ancient city that once was part of the Ottoman Empire, stemmed from economic and administrative sharing of the city, adding natural resources of the city belonged to all Iraqis as it was stated in Iraq’s constitution. Read the rest of this entry »
Turkmens, Turkmeneli and the Musul Region
By Orhan Ketene
Northern Iraq or the Musul Region is home of the Iraqi Turkmens for over a millennium. The economic and strategic importance of this land, had made it one of the most sensitive parts of the Middle East in general and of Iraq in particular. Read the rest of this entry »