Barazani: will not accept any foreign interference on Kirkuk issue
Baghdad, 11 April 2007 (Voices of Iraq)
Iraq's Kurdistan’s president, Massoud al-Barazani, said on Tuesday Iraqi Kurds would not accept any foreign interference on the Kirkuk issue as it considers it an internal affair that should be resolved internally.
The state-run satellite channel al-Iraqiya quoted al-Barazani, during his speech before the opening session of the Democratic Forces conference in Arbil on Tuesday, as saying that the "Kirkuk issue is an internal affair and can be resolved by Iraqis according to article 140 of the Iraqi constitution."
"We do not say that Kirkuk will be for Kurds only, but it is an Iraqi city carrying Kurdish identity and all historical facts confirm this," the president said during the conference.
He urged the Iraqi government to apply article 140, affirming that "we will defend our rights and not submit to anyone except God."
The article stipulates that the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk can only be achieved by the return of Arabs, who settled in the city during the former Iraqi regime, to their hometowns after offering them compensation, and the return of expelled Kurds.
A census will follow the referendum, during which the people of Kirkuk will decide whether to stay a part of the Iraqi federal government or to join Iraq's Kurdistan region.
Kurds insist that the article be applied because there are former Baathists in most of the Iraqi institutions in Kirkuk, despite the toppling of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's regime.
Regarding the Iraqi flag, al-Barazani said that Iraq's Kurdistan will fly the Republic of Iraq's flag from after the 1958 revolution, saying "we will not fly Baathists' flag."
He called on the Iraqi cabinet and the parliament to explain the meaning of the three stars in the flag, underlining that they represents the Baath's three goals: unity, freedom and so******m.
Kirkuk, 250 km northeast of Baghdad, is an important city in the north of Iraq because it is rich in oil. It is a mixed city of Kurds, Turkmans, Christians and Arabs.
Barazani: will not accept any foreign interference on Kirkuk issue | Iraq Updates