By Mukhlis Khoshnaw
IRBIL, Nov 15 (KUNA) -- The tension between the central Iraqi government and the Kurdistan region has escalated in recent years especially after the latter went on with its Kurdistan independence referendum on September 25, 2017.
The Kurdish unilateral step did not garner regional and international approval and actions were taken by the Iraqi government and states in the region to counter the Kurdistan region aspirations for independence.
With that being said, the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan region had been locking horns on the issue of disputed areas in the country with the likelihood that this particular conflict will remain a serious obstacle on the way of mending wounds between the two sides.
The geopolitical and demographic pitfalls that plague the issue makes it very difficult to solve.
The 140 article of the Iraqi constitution defines these areas as regions subjugated to demographic shifts during the reign of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein between 1968 and 2003.
The Kurdish side deems the article as the only solution to the disputed areas dilemma.
The areas, which stretch for 37,000 square kilometers, includes three Kurdish-controlled provinces Irbil, Suleimaniya, and Dahuk in addition to the governorates of Nineveh, Salahuddin, Diyala, and Kirkuk.
Article 140 states finding a mechanism to end the dispute in Kirkuk and other surrounding areas, through normalization, the return of civilians who fled during the war to other areas in Iraq, compensation, and conducting a census on the population there to see if they want to be linked to Kurdistan region or not.
Speaking to KUNA, former Kurdish minister responsible for affairs of disputed areas Dr. Mohammad Ehsan said that the conflict seems to focus on the available resources in each region.
He added that this was not the entire story; the disputed areas also include a complex demographic status of Sunni and Shiite Arabs, Muslim and Yazidi Kurds, Christians, and many more.
Eshan said that the current dilemma in Kirkuk for example dates back to the 1970s when the central government signed with Kurdistan a deal to offer self-governance in the region and even after 1991 Kurdish Peshmerga forces fought against the Iraqi regime to gain their rights in Kirkuk.
The fall of Saddam regime in 2003 did not resolve the issue; there were other factors that prevented the Kurdistan region from gaining control of Kirkuk, said the official.
Ehsan, who authored various books on the subject, was the one responsible for implementing article 140 concerning the areas of conflict issue but nothing occurred and nothing was resolved.
However, Ehsan also pointed out that extending the validity of Article 140, a sensitive constitutional issue, would require a referendum, stressing importance to implement it by the Iraqi central government.
In 2014, the Iraqi government and Kurdistan region were faced by an old/new menace with the emergence of the so-called Islamic State, an entity, which was not created in a vacuum but rather was established due to the preexisting conditions in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.
Fighting back, the Iraqi army and Peshmerga forces -- with the support of regional and international allies -- managed to take back areas from IS.
After most areas were retaken, the two allies began to bicker again for control of the liberated areas. (end) sbr.gta