Much of the media focus on the current strife in Iraq is on the role played by the al-Qaida breakaway, the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL).
But Kurdish leaders said jihadists would not have grown so strong had they not been able to feed off widespread Sunni resentment toward al-Maliki and anger at his government's exclusionary policies favoring Shi'ite Muslims, the majority group in Iraq.
- As they see it, the only solution to the crisis is for Iraq to adopt a federal system.
- "If al-Maliki had implemented the Iraqi constitution and allowed a federal system to develop, we wouldn’t be in this mess," said Ahmed Askari, a veteran Kurdish Peshmerga commander and head of the security council of the city of Kirkuk.
- "Instead, he banked everything on the army and thought if he had a strong army, he could control everyone, including Kurdistan. But the army has now collapsed," Askari said.
Kurdish political leaders want al-Maliki’s Shi'ite-dominated government to be replaced by one able to reach out to Sunni Muslims and start a process of reconciliation to undercut the jihadist exploitation of Sunni resentment.
U.S. officials also have urged al-Maliki to pursue reconciliation, and there has been little disguise of their hope that the prime minister steps down....................http://www.voanews.com/content/iraqi-kurds-hope-for-a-more-independent-future/1942538.html
22/6/14
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Iraqi Kurds link Kirkuk to own oil pipeline, plan more exports via Turkey
Third cargo of Kurdish oil ‘set to leave’ amid Iraqi crisis
Kurdish forces in full control of oil city of Kirkuk after Iraq army flees
Kurdish oil flow continues in defiance of Baghdad’s legal move (Turkish energy minister)
Iraqi Kurds slam Baghdad legal action over oil shipment
Turkey: Kurdish oil will go to Italy, Germany
Washington concerned over Arbil’s oil exports (State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki)
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Oil revenues from the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline have been invested in Turkey's state-owned Halkbank, Turkey's energy minister has said....
ReplyDeleteSpeaking in capital Ankara on Monday, Taner Yildiz said that income from the pipeline would continue to be invested in the bank as long as the Kurdish Regional Government continued to supply the oil.
"The first shipload fee of $93 million was invested in Halkbank," said Yildiz.
Receipts for the investment were sent to the central government and the Kurdish administration was also being informed about the trade, said Yildiz.
He added: "Three (oil) cargoes have been loaded and sent (from Ceyhan to international markets), and yesterday we started loading a fourth."..............http://www.aa.com.tr/en/news/348658--iraq-oil-revenues-invested-in-turkeys-state-bank
Kerry in Kurdistan to urge leaders to be part of national government...
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Iraqi Kurdistan on Tuesday to urge its leaders not to withdraw from the political process in Baghdad after their forces took control of the northern oil city of Kirkuk.
Peshmerga fighters, the security forces of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish north, seized control of Kirkuk on June 12 after the Iraqi military fled in the face of an onslaught from Sunni militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Kurds have long dreamed of taking Kirkuk, a city with huge oil reserves just outside the autonomous region, which they regard as their historical capital.
If they hold onto Kirkuk, revenues from its major oilfields could far surpass any budget offer from Baghdad, boosting its ambition of succeeding as a fully independent state.
But Kerry, who is on a tour of Middle East countries to discuss the deepening crisis in Iraq, hopes to convince Kurdish leaders to be part of a new government in Baghdad where they can assume senior positions and have a say in the oil wealth.
While in Baghdad on Monday, Kerry said he had been assured by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki he would meet a July 1 deadline to form a new inclusive government. Washington is pressing Maliki to move quickly in the face of gains by Sunni militants who have advanced toward the capital.
"The secretary’s visit will be very important both to confer with the Kurdish leadership and also encourage them to play a very active role in this government formation process, including choosing a very strong president who can represent both Kurdish interests but also Iraqi interests," said a senior State Department official who briefed reporters.
"If they decide to withdraw from the Baghdad political process it will accelerate a lot of the negative trends," the official said. ........................http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/24/us-iraq-usa-kurdistan-idUSKBN0EZ0G020140624?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
24/6/14
Israel's Netanyahu calls for supporting Kurdish independence...
ReplyDeleteIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced support for Kurdish statehood on Sunday, taking a position that appeared to clash with the U.S. preference to keep sectarian war-torn Iraq united.
Israel has maintained discreet military, intelligence and business ties with the Kurds since the 1960s, seeing in the minority ethnic group a buffer against shared Arab adversaries.
The Kurds have seized on recent sectarian chaos in Iraq to expand their autonomous northern territory to include Kirkuk, which sits on vast oil deposits that could make the independent state many dream of economically viable.
But Iraqi Kurds, who have ethnic compatriots in Iran, Turkey and Syria, have hesitated to declare full independence, one reason being the feared response of neighbouring countries...............http://www.todayonline.com/world/israels-netanyahu-calls-supporting-kurdish-independence
29/6/14