The Iraqi government last week approved changes in Diyala province that will see the merging of predominantly-Kurdish subdistricts of Qaratapa, Jabara, Koks, and Kulajo into a new Qaratapa district.
The decision has been deemed by Kurds as a renewed effort to alter the demographics of the disputed province and seize territory from Kurdish control, with Koks subdistrict falling inside the boundaries of the Kurdistan Region’s Garmiyan administration.
Sherko Mirwais, a PUK leadership official and head of the party’s Khanaqin office, called the changes a “threat to all of Kurdistan and the future of Kurds in Kurdish areas outside the Kurdistan Region’s administration.”
Kurdish officials call disputed areas “Kurdish areas outside the Kurdistan Region’s administration.”
“We have invited all Kurdish parties to gather, and tomorrow, we will make a collective decision to reject this injustice being committed upon the Kurds,” he told Rudaw on Monday.
Describing the decision as “illegal,” Mirwais claimed that the decision is politically motivated and is spearheaded by Iraqi political parties in Baghdad, especially with the approaching federal parliament elections in November.
“The situation created in Diyala province is an example of a complex and dangerous situation in all Kurdish areas outside the Kurdistan Region’s administration. Kurds, representatives, and Kurdish officials in Baghdad must be well aware of this chauvinistic political intention,” he stressed.
Earlier this month, the sole PUK member of the Diyala Provincial Council condemned the decision as politically motivated.
“We reject the decision to make Qaratapa subdistrict a district as it is political, falls under Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, and should not be tampered with,” Aws al-Mahdawi told Rudaw, adding that Qaratapa’s population does not amount to the required 400,000 to upgrade it to a district.
Karwan Yarwais, a lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament from the PUK, on Friday stated that the decision to turn Qaratapa into a district violates the Iraqi constitution, which prohibits changes to territories disputed between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) until Article 140 is fully implemented.
Following the fall of the Baath regime in 2003, Iraq began a policy of de-Arabization under Article 140 of the constitution, aiming to reverse the demographic changes imposed by former dictator Saddam Hussein.
The failure to fully implement it, however, has been cited as one of the main reasons for the continued attempts at demographic change in the disputed territories.
Nwenar Fatih contributed to this report.
