Turkish opposition urges dialogue over Iraq's Kirkuk

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - A Turkish opposition party leader on Tuesday called for Iraq’s central government to lead dialogue and negotiations over the disputed province of Kirkuk, a recent flashpoint of conflict between the Erbil-based Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and Baghdad.

At his party’s parliamentary group meeting, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli urged against sectarian conflict in Kirkuk, where Peshmerga fighters from the KRG recently abandoned the oil-rich region.

"A dialogue, meeting, negotiation process on defining the governmental and political status of Kirkuk should be launched under the leadership of Iraq’s central government," said Bahceli.

Bahceli noted that the historical presence of ethic Turkmen in the region must be taken in account when deciding Kirkuk’s status.

"Also the Turkmen must be involved in the process," he said.

Bahceli also said all PKK terrorists should be eliminated from Kirkuk.

He added, "Within this process of defining the final status of Kirkuk, as a first step, normalization should be provided, and it is essential to deal with the demographic structure in Kirkuk which was damaged before."

During the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Peshmerga forces seized Kirkuk, prompting an influx of Kurds into the city, and in 2014 it was seized by KRG Peshmerga as Iraqi forces fled in the face of Daesh’s advance.

Kirkuk’s population is mainly made up of ethnic Turkmen, Arabs and Kurds.

Bahceli also stressed Iraq’s territorial integrity, saying: "It is an essential to find a solution for the status of Kirkuk within the independence, territorial integrity and national unity of Iraq."

Bahceli said that the rights of Iraq’s constituent ethnicities -- including Turkmen, Arabs and Kurds, as well as Assyrians and Chaldeans -- should be secured within the status of Kirkuk.

He said: "Kirkuk should have a special status independent of any province."

The retaking of Kirkuk by Iraqi forces last week was supported by Turkey, which, along with other regional powers and Baghdad, opposed an illegitimate referendum last month on Kurdish regional independence.

Although the KRG’s autonomy is recognized under the Iraqi Constitution, some territories -- including Kirkuk -- are disputed between Baghdad and Erbil.