11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

75 killed in suicide truck bombing ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 23627]

"On July 16, a suicide truck bombing targeted the Kirkuk headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), killing 75 and wounding almost 200 more. The attack highlighted the tensions among Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen residents of Kirkuk at the center of ongoing deliberations over the implementation of Article 140 of the constitution, which provided a December 31 deadline for a referendum over the future of disputed internal boundaries. At year's end the major political blocs agreed to seek technical assistance from the UN and to a six-month technical delay in implementation of Article 140."

Document(s): Open document

08.2007 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

De-Arabization in Kirkuk ("UNHCR's Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Iraqi Asylum-seekers") [ID 22463]

"Article 140 of the Constitution provides for the “normalization” of the situation in Kirkuk
and other arabized areas by 31 December 2007.
The former Governments’ Arabization policies, which began in the 1930s and included the settlement of Arab tribes in certain areas, sought to change the demographic make-up of Kirkuk and other mixed areas. In particular, after the unsuccessful Kurdish Uprising in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, Arabization policies were further intensified, with the forced assimilation and deportation of Kurds, Turkmen, Christians, Yazidis and Shabak from Kirkuk and other multi-ethnic areas. Most settled in the Kurdish-controlled three Northern Governorates.
Article 140 of the Constitution calls for a three-step process to normalize the situation in Kirkuk and other disputed areas by reversing the Arabization policy, including the return of the formerly displaced and restitution of their properties, the taking of a census and, finally, the holding of a referendum no later than 31 December 2007 to determine the status of these areas. To date, developments linked to the “normalization” of Kirkuk have been highly controversial and delayed by political disputes. After the fall of the former regime in 2003, thousands of Kurds returned to Kirkuk and other mixed areas, and reports appeared that Arab and Turkmen residents in some neighbourhoods of Kirkuk were pressured by Kurdish armed groups to leave their homes.
In particular, there has been considerable ethnic violence in the city of Kirkuk among various communities as it is claimed by Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs. The issues of demographics and numbers, and therefore political influence, are highly disputed. Each of the three groups has its own evidence proving that Kirkuk has historically been dominated by it. [Sec.II/B/2/pp.29-30]"

Document(s): Open document

08.2007 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Targeted attacks against members and representatives of ethnic communities ("UNHCR's Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Iraqi Asylum-seekers") [ID 23252]

"While part of the violence in Kirkuk, Mosul, Tel Afar and other mixed areas is of generalized nature, there are also targeted attacks, including kidnappings and assassinations, against members and representatives of the various ethnic communities. Given that the various ethnic groups in Kirkuk and other mixed areas are vying for political power, such attacks are often of a political nature. Sunni extremists staging a war against Shi’ites and other “non-believers” are also responsible for attacks against members of religious groups."

Document(s): Open document

23.01.2007 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Kirkuk: The oil-rich city of Kirkuk is plagued by sectarian violence, insurgency and criminal attacks; tens of thousands of displaced people suffer ("Kirkuk’s time-bomb could explode at any time") [ID 19558]

"No accurate figures for victims of violence in Kirkuk over the past three years are available. However, from the beginning of 2006 until 20 January 2007, 348 people were killed and 1,474 injured, according to Lt Col Anwar Hussein of the city’s police force. Those killed include 121 civilians, 92 policemen, 64 soldiers and 69 unidentified dead bodies, apparently victims of death squads, found with their hands and legs bound and with torture marks on their bodies. [...] Kirkuk's major humanitarian problem is meeting the needs of the huge number of displaced people there. Nearly 200,000 Kurds have returned to Kirkuk since the US-led occupation of Iraq began in 2003, according to Rebwar Talabani, deputy head of Kirkuk provincial council. This is in addition to more than 3,500 Arab families, around 17,500 individuals, who fled escalating sectarian violence in other provinces after the 22 February 2006 bombing of a revered Shi’ite shrine in the northern city of Samarra."

Document(s): Open document

22.01.2007 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Turkey fears that if the Iraqi Kurds annex Kirkuk into their autonomous region, they will eventually want to carve out an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq and thus stoke separatist desires in Turkey's own sizable Kurdish population ("Iraq: Turkey Keeps Nervous Eye On Kirkuk") [ID 19565]

Document(s): Open document

28.01.2005 - Source: International Crisis Group

Report focused on escalating crisis in Kirkuk ("Iraq: Allaying Turkey's fears over Kurdish ambitions") [#28629],  [ID 10705]

Information on Turkish interests in Kirkuk / Northern Iraq

"Oil is at the heart of steadily building tensions in Kirkuk, a crisis that could culminate in open conflict between the various communities in the city and surrounding district and could precipitate civil war and intervention by Iraq's northern neighbour, Turkey."

Document(s): Open document