DERYA SAZAK
MILLIYET- Drafts of ‘The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Iraq’ and ‘The Kurdish Constitution’ acquired by Namik Durukan were published yesterday in the Milliyet daily. These texts were prepared by the Kurdish Parliament in Arbil (Erbil) and then sent to Iraq’s Governing Council. Some may have trouble believing it, but for the first time the Iraqi Kurds are now very close to their goal of a ‘federal solution.’ The next step is the ‘independent state’ sought by Iraqi Kurdish Democratic Party (IKDP) head Massoud Barzani.
In past writings, Barzani has told the world the theoretical foundation of a ‘Kurdish federation’ in the near future:
‘The federation that will be given to the Kurds will solve both the Kurdish and Iraqi problems. The problem of the Kurds doesn’t only concern Iraqi citizenship. The question is political. It is the problem of the people. They have their own homeland, and that is Kurdistan.’
The Kurds want to take advantage of the historical window of Iraq’s reconstruction. In the draft federal constitution Iraq would be divided into two parts, namely an Arab region (Mesopotamia) and Kurdistan. It states that as the two main groups in Iraq, the Kurds and Arabs will form the new state. The Kirkuk region is called one of the Kurds, and its Turkmen residents are left unmentioned. This formula is not surprising if we analyze the struggle of Barzani’s tribe. Barzani’s views in his book published by Doz Publications in Turkey are clear:
‘It is [Saddam’s] Baath regime that transformed many regions in Kirkuk and Kurdistan into Arab regions. No one can deny that there is a Turkish minority in Kirkuk. This is a reality. But there is also an Assyrian minority and some Arabs. They were settled here by Mithat Pasha in the mid-nineteenth century. It should be accepted that Kirkuk is Kurdish land and not Turkish soil. Our Turkmen brothers are a minority and should benefit from every right. Their national rights can never be denied.’
On the cover of the book, Barzani added words said by his father Mustafa Molla Barzani in 1974: ‘I worry about Kurds coming to my grave and asking, “Why did you give Kirkuk away?” ’
A federal Iraq is being established in line with this vision! Haven’t Talabani and Barzani’s Turkish passports given way to this formation? Our late President Ozal saw this future, saying that ‘we should discuss a federation’ after the 1991 Gulf War. Would the US destroy this plan which was prepared in Washington? After Cyprus, Ankara is facing yet another difficult situation.