The Kirkuk status referendum was the Kirkuk part of a planned plebiscite to decide whether the disputed territories of Northern Iraq should become part of the Kurdistan Region. The referendum was initially planned for 15 November 2007,[1] but was repeatedly delayed[2] [3] and ultimately never took place.[4]
The referendum was mandated by Article 140 of the Constitution of Iraq. Article 140 required that before the referendum, measures had to be taken to reverse the Arabization policy employed by the Saddam Hussein administration during the Al-Anfal Campaign. Thousands of Kurds returned to Kirkuk following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. The referendum was to decide whether enough had returned for the area to be considered Kurdish.[5]
Kurdish resentment over the government's failure to implement Article 140 was one of the reasons for the 2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum,[6] which posed the question, "Do you want the Kurdistan Region and the Kurdistani areas outside the Region to become an independent state?"[7] The referendum led to episodes of Iraqi–Kurdish conflict and the government takeover of Kirkuk.
Following the invasion of Iraq in 2003 by the United States, the country was under the direct rule of the United States-appointed Coalition Provisional Authority, with advice from selected Iraqi leaders who sat on the Iraqi Governing Council. The IGC approved an interim constitution, the Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period (Transitional Administrative Law, TAL), which established the framework for the drafting and approval of a permanent constitution.
The TAL included specific clauses providing for the return of and compensation for forced migrants and for the "resolution of disputed territories including Kirkuk" through arbitration:
In 2005, a permanent Constitution was approved which referred back to the TAL and set a deadline of the end of 2007 for completion:
In late 2007, the U.N. Special Representative for Iraq negotiated an extension of the deadline for six months. However, the federal parliament decided to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court to rule whether the article was now expired or how it should be implemented.[8]
The government of Nouri al-Maliki appointed a "Commission on the Normalisation of the Status of Kirkuk" to implement the de-Arabization program. The Justice Minister, Hashim Abderrahman al-Shibli, a secular Sunni Arab from the secular Iraqi National List coalition was appointed the head. A program of normalisation was to be followed by a census by July 2007 and a referendum in November 2007.
In April 2007, Turkish intelligence sources claimed that Kurdistan President Barzani had "offered bribes to various Iraqi officials" involved in the Commission, including $500,000 to al-Shibli.[9] Turkey claimed that Kurdistan was planning to annex Kirkuk illegally, and that the rights of Iraqi Turkmen would be violated if Kirkuk joined Kurdistan Region.
Shibli resigned as head of the Commission in March 2007, citing disagreements with his own coalition on Kirkuk.[10] Raed Fahmy Jahid, another Sunni Arab from the INL was appointed his replacement in August 2007.[11]
In February 2007, the Commission adopted a controversial plan, which gave Sunni Arabs $15,000 to relocate back to their towns of origin, plus a plot of land in their new home.
In September 2007, it was reported that the normalization program had been bogged down in technical difficulties. The Kurdish parties were reported to have agreed a delay to the timetable for the census and referendum.
The Sadrist Movement called for the referendum to be postponed in June 2007.
In July 2007 they were reported to have supported a delay.[12]
Massoud Barzani, Kurdistan Democratic Party head has said that a delay of three to four months would be acceptable.[12] In September 2007, a news agency reported that the Kurdish parties had agreed a postponement to May 2008. However, Barzani said that failure to implement the law would "result in real civil war".[13]
The Iraqi National Dialogue Front called for a delay in June.[14]
The Iraqi Accord Front proposed a delay in June, by way of an amendment to the Constitution of Iraq[12]
Saadeddin Arkej, the leader of the Iraqi Turkmen Front said in June that they aimed to save Kirkuk as the capital of Iraqi Turkmens or at least earn it a special status.[15]
Turkey - The Turkish government strongly opposed holding of the upcoming referendum in 2007, calling for it to be postponed. Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih said in a statement posted on the internet on 9 December 2006, "The issue of Kirkuk will be resolved in accordance with the Iraqi Constitution Article 140. Consequently, this constitutional question will be resolved by the Iraqis themselves. No one can interfere in that." On 10 December, in a speech made at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in Manama, Bahrain, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul warned the Iraqi government against imposing an "unrealistic" future on Kirkuk. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari criticized Gonul, saying, "You speak of Kirkuk as if it is a Turkish city. These are matters for Iraq to decide."[5]
United States - The Iraq Study Group of senior American politicians recommended that the referendum be delayed "to avert communal violence given the very dangerous situation in Kirkuk".
Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia reportedly offered the Iraqi Kurdish leaders $2 billion in exchange for delaying the process for ten years.[16]In June 2008 the UNAMI head, Staffan de Mistura recommended that the Akra District and Makhmour District of Ninawa Governorate should be incorporated into Kurdistan but that the al-Hamdaniya area of Ninawa Governorate and the Mandali area of Diyala Governorate be excluded. These recommendations were rejected by the Council of Representatives of Iraq.[17]