Historically, it has been disputed between Kurdish forces and the Iraqi government, and in recent years Iranian-backed militias have played a more aggressive role in the city. Iran uses its militias to fire rockets to target gas fields on the road to Sulaymaniyah that are controlled by the Kurds.
According to reports from Erbil in the Kurdistan region, a Kurdish protester named Aram Mustafa was murdered by gunshots fired by the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Units in Kirkuk on Saturday. Rudaw media said that “Kurdish leaders issued urgent calls for calm as the streets of Kirkuk descended into violence on Saturday and three people lost their lives.”
The report says that the current wave of protests and violence are due to a complex decision taken by Baghdad. Iraq had ordered an Iraqi military Joint Operations Command (JOC) to move out of a building that had been used by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani had indicated the Kurdish KDP could return to Kirkuk for the first time since 2017.
What are the KDP and PUK?
There are two main Kurdish political parties, the KDP and PUK, the latter of which traditionally had a stronghold in Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah. Former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani had always said that Kirkuk would not be bartered away. The PUK had helped put down extremist groups in the city in the past but ISIS threatened the city in 2014 and the KDP came to play an increasing role there under governor Najmiddin Kareem. When Kurdish control ended in 2017 and the KDP and PUK withdrew, the Iraqis destroyed images of KDP leader Masoud Barzani. READ MORE
