Kirkuk: ethnic balance on the verge of collapse ahead of the elections

Shafaq News/ The marginalization of the Turkmen in Kirkuk disrupts its ethnic balance, a Turkmen leader said, while a Kurdish politician believes that the Kurds are "aggrieved" with no involvement in the decision-making process in the governorate.

Muhammad Mahdi al-Bayati, a Turkmen leader in the Badr Organization, told Shafaq News Agency, "Turkmen community is being systemically marginalized and deprived of positions without any constitutional or legal justifications."

"the positons of project coordinator and inspector in the North Oil company, and the Internal Intelligence chief in the governorate were taken from the Turkmen," he noted, "the balance between the Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen is vanishing. The governorate is moving from a shadow to another."

"There is conspiracy ran by political parties outside the governorate and executed by parties inside. The victim here is the Turkmen and Sunni Arabs are the component benefiting from the situation."

"Since 2003, the Turkmen did not receive their entitlements, and no actual balance was established."

The three main ethnicities in Kirkuk have failed so far to establish an agreement on a governance formula that satisfies all the parties. The conflict is fueled by ethnic and political differences, both inside and outside the governorate.

In a statement to Shafaq News Agency, Shakhwan Muhammad, a candidate running for the Iraqi legislative elections on the roster of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), said, "the current security and political situation is not in the interest of the Kurds. Since October 16, 2017, Kurds are being wronged."

"However, the Kurds shall participate in the elections with momentum for the sake of their ethnicity despite their anger and discontent with their situation in the governorate they do not have any authority in."

Tahrir al-Ubaydi, an Arab independent candidate, said, "the security situation in Kirkuk is stable, but the Independent High Electoral Commission shall expedite the distribution of the biometric cards."

"I believe that the voters are optimistic. They want to choose new faces in the hope of change," she added.

"Voters in Kirkuk are divided. Some support holding the elections, and others do not," Najat Hussein, a Turkmen candidate, said, "voting turnover will be nearly 50%."

"Those who support holding the elections hope for real change in the current situation. Those who are boycotting the elections have lost faith in the incumbent MPs and officials who did nothing for the governorate," he concluded.