Azerbaijan, Baku, 11 November /corr. Trend U.Sadikova, B.Hasanov / The proposal by the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to limit the rights of the autonomies, including Kurdish, will help strengthen central authority in Baghdad, but the Kurdish government will not agree with al-Maliki.
Prime Minister al-Maliki proposed to make amendments to the new Constitution of Iraq, where the autonomies and administrative centers of Iraq will be limited in their rights, and the control of the central government of Baghdad will be strengthened over them. In particular, this entrance of oil revenues to the united treasury and introduction of general law in these territories, AlJazeera television channel reported.
However, the head of the Kurdish administration, Masud Barzani and the President of Iraq, Kurdish by origin, Jalal Talabani, oppose al-Maliki's proposal, considering this the violation of the rights of the Kurdish minorities of Iraq.
"Kurds have been always interested in the leading role in the Iraqi policy. Therefore, they will be against any document or agreement of al-Maliki, which does not correspond to their interests," Ahmad Tagi, head of Kirkuk Center of Strategic Studies, told Trend by telephone.
Since 1975, the Kurdish population of Iraq, headed by the Democratic Party of Kurdistan, required granting it autonomy and equality of rights with the Arab population of the country. The Kurds played the most significant role in the beginning of the military operations of the USA in Iraq in 2003, as a result of which, autonomy was formed in the territory of Kurdistan in 2005. With the establishment of American control in Iraq, the Kurds became more active in the domestic policy of Iraq. A good chance appeared for them to realize Kurdish interests in Iraq, exactly the right of Kurds to gain seats in the parliament and government, and right on the incomes from the Iraqi oil.
The current Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki repeatedly declared the creation of the independent and united government in Baghdad so that the control over security would not be subject to the USA. And his present proposal on constitutional changes to the regulations of Kurds and other peoples of Iraq does not mean that the rights of Kurds will be limited, said the Iraqi expert Tagi.
"Kurds can not say that their rights were limited or they were deprived of them, they govern the autonomy of Iraq," said expert.
However, he said that in the question of strong central government, they will support government of al-Maliki, but not speak against his proposals. Previously Baghdad was also mediator in the negotiations of Turkey and Kurdistan, especially in the issue of Turkish- Iraqi borders and conducting of the military operations by the Turkish Army in the territory of autonomy.
Unfortunately without the Kurds fully onboard, any new Iraqi government will find it difficult to project a unified image, Christopher Davidson, analyst of British-based University of Durham, said. "Moreover, with the Kurds still disgruntled with the proposed Iraqi constitution, the likelihood of their continuing autonomy keeps increasing, thus bringing Iraq into difficulties with Turkey, which is keen to see an end to Kurdish independence," Davidson told Trend via e-mail.
However, the analyst of the Turkish Center of Strategic Studies Eurasia, Bayram Sinkaya, said that the problem in the relations can much be caused not by the general policy of the Kurds of Iraq, but the Kurdish requirement of large part of the incomes from the Iraqi oil. This violates the rights of other minorities of Iraq, he said. Kurds compose 21% of the total number of population of Iraq (about six million). In the territory of Kurdistan, 60% of the reserves of Iraqi oil concentrated, center of which is Kirkuk.
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