MESOP : KEMAL KIRKUKI ON KIRKUK / GERMAN BASED NIQASH WEBSITE

Kirkuk would remain a part of Kurdistan Region: official

A Peshmerga commander stated Iraqi northern city of Kirkuk is a part of Kurdistan Region and will remain in the region for good.Kurdish forces of Peshmerga seized the control of disputed regions that both Baghdad and Erbil claimed authority over them after the Islamic State (IS) insurgency into Iraq last year.

Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution was due to decide the fate of the regions through a referendum. Kemal Kirkuki, also the region’s ex-parliament speaker, told Germany-based Niqash website that Kurds would not quit Kirkuk, what the Kurds call the Quds of Kurdistan. Kirkuki said the Kurdish forces would protect people in the city and other disputed regions without any discrimination. Also a leading member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Kirkuki said Kirkuk has a Kurdish identity and no one can divide it from Kurdistan, warning that people in Kurdistan would not allow anyone to divide the city from Kurdistan region and a possible Kurdish state in the future. He ultimately said distrust between Erbil and Baghdad is the root of disputes between the two governments and that is why that Kurds “should declare their independence from Iraq and that is the only solution.” www.mesop.de