Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Sudani has dispatched a delegation to the Pirdy sub-district (Altun Kopri) following clashes and demonstrations by Turkmens protesting the appointment of a Kurdish mayor.
Ahmad Fatlawi, the head of the High Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee, has arrived in Kirkuk province, as announced by the Governor.
Fatlawi arrived in Kirkuk on Monday, met with the governor and council speaker, and then departed for Altun Kopri district to assess the situation there, according to an official statement.
This decision by Sudani was prompted by statements from Iraqi Turkmen Front ITF leader Mohammed Sam'an and Turkmen MP Arshad Salihi, urging intervention in the formation of the Kirkuk local government to address Turkmen concerns.
Kirkuk Governor Rebwar Taha and Deputy Speaker Mohammed Hafez have announced the formation of a committee to review district appointments where diverse communities reside.
"We do not recognize the (local) government of the so-called Rashid Hotel in Kirkuk, nor do we recognize the committees formed under the guise of restoring administrative balance," ITF leader said.
Turkmen, the third-largest ethnic group in Iraq after Arabs and Kurds, are spread across the country, residing almost exclusively in the northern towns and villages stretching from Tal Afar through Mosul, Erbil, the center of Kirkuk, and Altun Kopri district, Tuz Khurmatu of Salahaddin, and Kifri and Khanaqin in Diyala. They are all Muslims, with half being Sunnis and half Shiites.
Though there are no official records about the Turkmen in Kirkuk, Turkmen political parties say there are over 200,000 Turkmen voters in Kirkuk. The city has been divided into three constituencies for 12 seats in the October 10th, 2021 General Elections.
The Turkmen community is demanding a Turkmen mayor for Pirdy, asserting that it is a Turkmen city. However, statistics from the Kirkuk administration show that while Turkmens hold many district positions, they are not the majority, Kurdish political parties claim.
Mohammed Sam'an, leader of the Turkmen Front, stated on Facebook that the delegation's visit was in response to their request to the Iraqi Prime Minister, highlighting the unjust treatment of the Turkmen community in Kirkuk province.
In the provincial council elections held at the end of 2023, they only won two seats. However, they were not united, and one of their members, supported by Arshad Salihi, broke the boycott of the Kirkuk provincial council meetings and joined in power.
The northern, oil-rich, ethnically mixed province of Kirkuk is home to approximately 1.77 million Kurds, Turkmen, and Arabs. Located 238 kilometers north of Baghdad, it has long been at the center of disputes between the federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
