Proposed Kirkuk Region Violates the Constitution

Kirkuk provincial leader Ruzkar Ali said the memorandum signed by some Kirkuk provincial council members to form a Kirkuk region violates the constitution. He said the issue should be solved according to article 140 of the constitution and that a referendum should be held following the normalization of the city. (Arabs, primarily from the south, were forced to move to Kirkuk and long-time Kurdish residents moved out under Saddam Hussein's regime.) Fourteen Arab and Turkmen members have signed the memorandum, including some Arab leaders who were displaced from the south.