Iraq’s new premier Haider Abadi (C) attends the parliament session to submit his government at the parliament headquarters in Baghdad, September 8, 2014. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
On Thursday, the Iraqi Parliament in a majority vote decided to remove the Kurdish governor of Kirkuk, Najmaldin Karim, shortly after Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi sent a letter to the parliament asking for the move.
Karim is a supporter of the Kurdistan Region independence as well as an idea to hold the vote in the province of Kirkuk that is not a part of Iraqi Kurdistan ruled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Kurdish Governor of Kirkuk Najmaldin Karim has been campaigning for the upcoming #KurdistanReferendum with @masoud_barzani pic.twitter.com/4DKhEwIbL0
— Kurdistan24 English (@K24English) 14 September 2017
As a result of the ongoing conflict in Iraq, Peshmerga forces, an armed force of the KRG, have seized control over the Kirkuk provincial capital and the nearby oil-rich areas. They use this to justify the KRG’s claims on the area.
Meanwhile, Hadi al-Ameri, secretary-general of the Badr Organization, said during a festival in Najaf province that a civil war would become “inevitable” if the escalation “continues on the same rate regarding the issue of Kurdistan Region’s referendum,” according to Rudaw.
The Badr Organization is a paramilitary organization of the Shia Islamist party “Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq” (ISCI). The Badr Organization is one of the key elements of the Popular Mobilization Units – an influential alliance of militias incorporated into the Iraqi Armed Forces.
The KRG is seeking to turn Iraqi Kurdistan into an independent state that includes the area of the autonomous region as well as the nearby oil-rich areas and the city of Kirkuk not governed by the KRG.
An Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum is set for September 25. These actions become a reason of the ongoing escalation between the KRG and the Iraqi government.
