Kirkuk, March 03: Iraqi authorities have imposed a temporary curfew in the city of Kirkuk to prevent planned demonstrations as tensions escalate among Kurd, Arab and Turkmen residents.
Many experts have warned that a political crisis caused by the ongoing tensions among the Iraqi minorities might lead to a civil war in the northern oil-rich city, a Media correspondent reported from Kirkuk.
The curfew, which was imposed on Tuesday and later lifted, prevented the occurrence of a planned Arab-led demonstration in the disputed city, which is surrounded by 8,500 Kurdish peshmerga forces newly stationed upon orders by the autonomous Kurdistan region’s government.
It seems that the situation in Kirkuk has been destabilized again at a time when Iraq is witnessing a wave of protests across the country.
The Arabs in Kirkuk have organized a number of protests, demanding the government to provide them with better services and open more projects to tackle the unemployment which followed the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.
Analysts believe that the curfew aimed to prevent the occurrence of demonstrations, but the government claims the terrorists were planning to attack the protesters and the curfew was meant to protect the citizens.
Meanwhile, Turkmen lawmakers and officials described the presence of Peshmerga troops as unconstitutional. They argue Iraqi security forces have the capability of dealing with the situation by themselves, and claim that the Kurds have the ambition to take over the city.
In a joint press conference, Kurdish and Turkmen lawmakers from Kirkuk described the political situation in the city as very sensitive and stressed the need for provincial elections in the city.
The head of the Arabic Front in Kirkuk’s provincial council stated that the US presence in Kirkuk is considered as one of the main obstacles to stability in the region.
He blamed the United States for creating instability by supporting the Kurds against the majority Arabs and the Turkmen minority.
——–Agencies