Kurdish Government Protests in Iraq

In November, I wrote a blog post about power plays between two Kurdish political parties: Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). I mentioned that it looked like an issue surrounding oil profits.

In December, protests erupted that impacted both the PUK and KDP. Based on current reading, the situation is a bit more complicated than just PUK vs KDP as we now have mention of another political party called Gorran.



Per Reuters (December 18):

Kurdish protesters, angered by years of austerity and unpaid public sector salaries, set fire to the offices of political parties near the city of Sulaimaniyah on Monday . . . Social media footage showed a building belonging to the ruling Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) on fire and a spokesman for its coalition partner in government, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), told Reuters an office belonging to them was also set ablaze by protesters.

An interesting fact that I didn't previously know was that the PUK and KDP are coalition partners.

It should also be pointed out that Sulaimaniyah is where the PUK is located. Not mentioned here is that Erbil is a KDP city and the capital of Kurdistan.

Another quote states:

. . .  in early 2014 when the Baghdad central government slashed funds to the KRG after it built its own oil pipeline to Turkey in pursuit of economic independence.

It looks like austerity measures took place when the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) made a strategic move to build out its own pipeline. In response, Baghdad cut off funds. It probably didn't help that oil prices tanked around that time. The Kurds probably made a calculated bet that they could survive on their own via funds gained by sending oil to Turkey, which would offset funds from Baghdad. An unluckily timed decision. Also, ISIS probably didn't help matters much.

Another Reuters (December 20) article has the following:

On Wednesday leading opposition movement Gorran withdrew its ministers from the KRG and Kurdistan Parliament Speaker Yousif Mohamed, a party member, resigned in response to the violence.

Based on Wikipedia, Gorran's political platform is:

. . . to de-politicise the regional government, strengthen the judiciary, limit political interference in the economy and make the budget more transparent. Supporting federalism for Iraqi Kurdistan, it said disputes with the central government could be solved through dialogue based on the Iraqi Constitution.

Based on this, Gorran sees the economic damage done due to the Kurdish independence movement. Here's some speculation on my part, partially based on an earlier blogpost: KDP is closer to Turkey. PUK is closer to Iran. Gorran is closer to Baghdad. These protests are likely about economic issues. Gorran may be attempting to gain political leverage, but I am unsure if they have the support of the people protesting.

In other news, per Bloomberg (January 8), Baghdad is attempting to tighten control over oil in Kurdish territory:

Iraq’s parliament wants the Kurdish Kar Group to halt work at its oil operations in the disputed northern region of Kirkuk, which the central government reclaimed from the OPEC country’s semi-autonomous Kurdish authorities in October.

Though that might have just been a negotiating tactic as another Reuters (January 15) article mentions that Iraq and the Kurds are in negotiations:

Envoys of the two sides met in the Kurdish regional capital Erbil in northern Iraq and discussed issues including security, control over the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) land borders, airports, the oil industry, customs revenue and river dams, a statement from the Iraqi cabinet said.

I'll have to keep an eye on this negotiation. One thing not mentioned is what role Iran has in these negotiations.

And then though this article is written by a pro-Kurdish government newspaper, Rudaw (January 13), there is a tidbit about ISIS in Iraq:

. . . they are already reverting to their roots as a non-state terrorist group which uses guerrilla tactics against their many adversaries. One area where they have had some limited success in carrying out such hit-and-run attacks is in Kirkuk following Iraq's ouster of Kurdish forces from there almost three months ago.

Though ISIS was defeated, it is still hanging out in small numbers. This is probably similar to what is going on in Libya -- an unfortunate irritation. Yet, in Libya, I don't see any natural allies for ISIS. In Iraq, if the Shiite government does not treat the Sunnis with respect there could be some cooperation.