Ankara Calls Kurdish Resettlement in Kirkuk 'Unacceptable'

Türkiye's foreign ministry warned in January 2005 that Kurds were settling in Kirkuk in numbers exceeding those displaced from the northern Iraqi city under Saddam Hussein, and called the trend unacceptable.

Spokesman Namik Tan called on the Iraqi government, the United Nations, and the broader international community to prevent moves that could threaten lasting peace and regional stability. He said hundreds of thousands of newcomers were arriving with "neither personal nor family bonds" to Kirkuk.

The statement followed a deal between Kurdish leaders and Baghdad allowing an estimated 100,000 Kurds, expelled from Kirkuk under the previous regime, to vote in Tamim province during Iraq's 30 January national election. The arrangement was seen as tilting political power toward the Kurds in a city that also has a sizable Turkmen community, a group historically backed by Ankara.

Türkiye's concern centered on Kirkuk's oil reserves and the prospect that Kurdish control could accelerate a push for separation from Baghdad, which Ankara feared would stoke separatist sentiment in southeastern Türkiye. Under Iraq's interim constitution, a final ruling on Kirkuk's status was deferred until a permanent constitution was ratified and a census completed, both expected by the end of 2005.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in January 2005, in its own words.