Kirkuk
Kirkuk (كركوك) is an ancient city in Iraq, but is considered by some to be in Southern Kurdistan, sitting near the Hasa River on the ruins of a 3,000-year-old settlement. It is the centre of the northern Iraqi petroleum industry. It is located at 35.47°N, 44.41°E, in the Iraqi province of at-Ta'mim. The estimated population in 2003 was 755,700 people.
The Kirkuk oil field was brought into use by the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC) in 1934 and has remained the basis of northern Iraqi oil production, with over 10 billion barrels (1.6 km³) of proven remaining oil reserves, as of 1998. The facilities have been sabotaged at times during fighting between Iraqi forces and the Kurds.
The third major ethnic group of Kirkuk are Turkic Turkmen. Pipelines from Kirkuk run through Turkey to Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Sea and were one of the two main routes for the export of Iraqi oil under the "oil for food" programme following the Gulf War of 1991. This was in accordance with a United Nations mandate that at least 50% of the oil exports pass through Turkey. There are two parallel lines built in 1977 and 1987.
The Kurds have identified Kirkuk as their preferred capital in any new Kurdish state. More than 100,000 of them were forced from Kirkuk and outlying villages during the regime of Saddam Hussein and replaced with Arab oilfield workers in Saddam's Arabization plan of the Al-Anfal Campaign. Under the protection of the 'no-fly' zones imposed after 1991, many returned to live in tent encampments on the edges of Kirkuk. There was sporadic violence.
January 26, 2004, the Los Angeles Times quoted Barham Salih, prime minister for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of two main political parties controlling the Kurdish autonomous zone in northern Iraq. "Kirkuk is a benchmark for how most Kurds would define their legitimacy in Iraq," he said. "We have a claim to Kirkuk rooted in history, geography and demographics?. This is a recipe for civil war if you don't do it right."
References
-
- , March 15, 2003; named Kurds' preferred capital.
- , Anthony H. Cordesman, CSIS, February 1998; information about the oil resources and facilities.
See also
