Kurdish Parties in Kirkuk hold key meeting on upcoming census amid tensions over disputed areas
Shafaq News/ On Wednesday, Kurdish political parties in Kirkuk convened in a critical meeting to address concerns over the upcoming census in Iraq’s disputed territories, including Kirkuk.
The session took place at the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) third branch in Kirkuk, gathering the deputy speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Shakhwan Abdullah Ahmed, and other prominent Kurdish officials.
Discussions centered on the implications of the census in Kirkuk and nearby disputed areas, amid worries about demographic and political impacts.
Although a press conference had been planned to discuss the meeting’s outcomes, attendees ultimately informed the media that the conference was canceled.
On November 10, Fahmi Burhan, the head of the General Board for Kurdistani Areas Outside the Region, called on Baghdad to postpone the census until unresolved issues between Erbil and Baghdad are addressed under Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, which outlines mechanisms to resolve disputes in areas claimed by both governments.
In a press briefing held in Al-Sulaymaniyah, Burhan emphasized the importance of Kurdish representation in the census, particularly the inclusion of Kirkuk’s native Kurdish residents. “We are not opposed to the census, which we see as crucial for developmental goals in Kurdistan’s four provinces. However, the ongoing status of disputed areas warrants a delay,” he stated.
He also voiced concerns that the census might be politically motivated, potentially reducing Kurdistan’s geographical presence, and called on Iraqi Kurds to boycott the census scheduled for November 20–21.
Iraq’s last comprehensive census was conducted in 1987. A 1997 census excluded the Kurdistan Region, forcing Iraq to rely on unofficial estimates until the Ministry of Planning projected the population at over 42 million in 2022.
Since 2003, Kurdish authorities have sought to incorporate Kirkuk into the Kurdistan Region. Census results could affect the Kurdish share of Iraq’s federal budget, currently around 12%, and determine Kirkuk’s political alignment.
However, the government plans to omit questions about ethnicity and religion in the census, igniting backlash in disputed regions where residents fear underrepresentation. The census results, while intended for economic planning, carry political weight in a country with deep ethnic and sectarian divides, whose third-largest global oil reserves raise stakes for fair wealth distribution.
