Kirkuk Still Divides Arabs, Kurds in Iraq
Despite the passage of more than 43 years since an autonomy agreement was signed between Iraq’s central government and the Kurds, tensions persist between Baghdad and Erbil, writes Abdel Hamid Zebari.
On March 11, 1970, the Kurds of Iraq signed a peace accord with the government that is still to this day celebrated as a declaration of autonomy. Five years later, the Iraqi authorities backed out of the accord following a disagreement over the administrative borders of the Kurdistan Region. Ever since, these borders have become a curse for Arabs and Kurds alike and a fundamental matter of dispute.
The Kurds hold this agreement in high esteem, as it was the first deal through which they reaped benefits. March 11 was made an official holiday commemorated in the Kurdistan region by its official institutions.
The March 11 accords, concluded between the Iraqi government and Kurdish leader Mullah Mustafa Barazani, acknowledged the national rights of Kurds. Moreover, they recognized the legitimacy of their participation in the government and allowed the Kurdish language to be taught in educational institutions.
In an interview with Al-Monitor, Mahmoud Outhman, a Kurdish politician and current MP who was a member of the Kurdish delegation that negotiated the deal, clarified that “when the agreement was announced on March 11, 1970, it was a historical event. At the time — 43 years ago — granting the Kurds civil rights was a weighty issue. Unfortunately, however, the implementation of the agreement has to this day been an exercise in futility.”
