June 27
Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim said in a press conference on Monday (June 27) Kirkuk is Inseparable part of Kurdistan and article 140 of constitution must be implement to speed its joining to the Kurdistan Region; and he also criticized the federal Iraqi government for creating problems for the city’s governorate.
Karim said during the press conference, “the administration of the governorate must be added to Kurdistan because I know it would be protected.”
The governor said Baghdad had violated the rights of the Kirkuk governorate on several occasions adding the government had given power to eighteen ministries in every governorate of Iraq but the governorate of Kirkuk was not given such authority.
Karim criticized Kurdish MPs in the Iraqi Parliament over the decision to allot funds from budget cuts to Hashid al-Shaabi (Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces) but not to Peshmerga, who were not mentioned in the decision.
“Kurdish members of parliament passed them over and did not discuss that which concerned Kurdish Peshmerga,” he said.
The oil-rich province of Kirkuk is one of the most disputed areas by the Kurdistan regional government and the Iraqi government in Baghdad.
The Kurds are seeking to integrate Kirkuk province into the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region as its historically a Kurdish city.