04-01-2010
By Jamal Muhammad Shukir
After more than six years living in freedom, one thing looks certain on surface: the Kurds are in control of Kirkuk. But that is far from the reality. How? In 2005 provincial council elections, Kurds got 26 of the province's 41 seats. Kurds got most of the leading posts in Kirkuk. But here are a couple of questions: Is Kirkuk under the control of the Kurds? Or are the Kurds rule Kirkuk?
To answer those questions, I have no choice to but to say No. Why? Because this city has never been under the Kurd’s control. Most of the Kurdish parties' organs are busy doing partisan and stabbing each other’s backs. Without doubt this partisan flame has burned every thing all together in a very dangerous way and it has affected the provincial council. This is a truth that no one can deny. The problem is the officials in Erbil and Sulaimaniya can only see those who work for them.
Media is the tool that every country uses to protect their national security and balances in times of conflicts, but In Kirkuk the media do totally the opposite.
Every political party has its own media and only works for the interest of the party. Furthermore, there is no independent media in Kirkuk. If there were any, they have been used by a political party or they have backed by an official party.
Kurds in general and the Kurdish leadership especially always talk about making concession in order to live in harmony in Kirkuk. But the truth is that the other ethnic groups have been looked after more than the Kurds. Everyone has accommodated them. Since 2007 most of the development projects have been implemented in the majority Kurdish neighborhoods and there is evidence to prove this, so it’s time to ask the question why the only those neighborhoods always complain (there have been several protests for the lack of basic services), and why in the past few years no one in the non-Kurdish neighborhoods haven’t complained? I think it is because we always busy with back stabbing each other and we are our own worst enemy. We are damaging our image in every shape of form.
There have been a lot of meeting in all levels; also there have been a lot of recommendations and resolution, but the question is how serious have they followed those recommendations and how they tried to solve the conflict between the two administration and between the parties, how they tried to eradicate the conflict between the administration and the parties?
As the March 7th election approach there are many things going on in Kirkuk, but this time it the situation is different. This time Kurds will not participate with one list. Kurdish parties would attack one another in order to get votes of the people. I'm afraid that we have forgotten our enemies. We are busy mocking each other and if we urgently don’t find a logical solution for this matter, we might lose a lot. Just like what happened in Daquq (a district near Kirkuk). Once two Kurdish candidates in the mayoral elections were busy fighting each other rather than working hard to get votes, the residents chose an Arab candidate.
Let all the factions work for them selves, but not against each other. The important this is that we should have more representatives, and it is irrelevant which side they come from and it is important that we don’t let rivalry kill us and just as the Kurds say: let our self cry to make the enemy smile.
Jamal Muhammad Shukir is the head of Kirkuk municipality
©Rudaw
