Thread: Article 140

Article 140 and the Future of Iraq

On May the 9th, the Washington Kurdish Institute held a seminar entitled Article 140 and the Future of Iraq in participatrion of many Kurdish and US figures.

Speakers at the conference, including Dr. Najmaldin Karim, President of WKI, Qubad Talabani , the Representative of KRG in Washington , the KRG Minister for Exrta Regonal Affaires,and other Kurdish figures inUS, discussed all dimensions of Article 140 and its implementation . They also discused anicient and modern history of Kirkuk through presenting many scientific and documentary discourses.

Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution mandates a process of normalization and referendum for disputed territories, although it continues to be a vexing issue which needs to be addressed. The most significant of these disputed territories is the governorate and city of Kirkuk, which suffered ethnic cleansing and expulsion by the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein. Makhmur, Sinjar, Khanaqeen and other areas of rural Kurdistan also fall under the jurisdiction of Article 140.

The future of Iraq depends on Article 140 and its aim of using a democratic and constitutional framework to address problems that are long overdue for resolution. The Iraqi government failed to meet the 2007 deadline for Kirkuk specified by Article 140, which includes full normalization and a referendum on unifying with the Kurdistan Regional Government. A six-month extension was granted to fulfill this constitutional obligation.

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Talabani Reiterates His Support for Resolving Kirkuk Issue According to Article 140

Today the Secretary General of the PUK, Jalal Talabani, supervised a meeting of the PUK politburo in Qalachwalan town near Sulaimani.
Talabani highlighted the latest political developments on the Iraqi and Kurdistan region arena.

Secretary General of the PUK also stressed the significance of holding the third general conference of the PUK which are scheduled to be held late this year.

He indicated the importance of the unity of people of Kurdistan in the current stage and the role of the Kurdistan political leadership in Iraq .Talabani said that disputed issues between the KRG and the Iraqi federal government, particularly the issue of the Kurdistan region Peshmerga forces are close to be resolved. Talabani also indicated the need for improving public services to people of Kurdistan region.

Regarding the normalization of Kirkuk and other disputed areas, Talabani reiterated his support for the need for resolving Kirkuk issue according to the article 140 of the Iraqi permanent constitution, stressing the significance of peaceful coexistence among all the fractions in Kirkuk.

http://pukmedia.com/english/Daily%20...-13/news16.htm

"Yawning gap" among political leaders' views on article 140 – Kurdish MP

The parliament's constitutional amendments committee referred the bones of contention on the application of article 140 pertaining to the disputed areas and other differences to the political leaders to reach an agreement over them, a committee member said on Tuesday.

"I believe the political leaders do not have even the intention to raise differences on article 140 due to the yawning gap in the leaders' views," Sameh al-Atroushi told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

Article 140 is related to normalization in Kirkuk, an important city of mixed population of Kurds, Turcomans, Christians, Arabs and Assyrians.

Kurds seek to annex the city to the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region, while Sunni Muslims, Turcomans, and Shiites oppose the incorporation. The article currently stipulates that all Arabs in Kirkuk be returned to their original locations in southern and central Iraqi areas, and formerly displaced residents returned to Kirkuk, 250 km northeast of Baghdad.

The article also calls to conduct a census to be followed by a referendum to allow inhabitants to decide whether they would like Kirkuk to be annexed to the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region or having it as an independent province.

These stages were supposed to end on December 31, 2007, a deadline that was later extended by six months.

The former regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein forced over 250,000 Kurdish residents to give up their homes to Arabs in the 1970s, to "Arabize" the city and the region's oil industry.

http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/eng...=2&NrSection=1

Fahmi: We are waiting for UN’s Suggestions on Article 140

During an interview with “Kurdistani Nwe” newspaper, Raed Fahmi the head of Article 140 implementation Committee said:” We will wait UN’s suggestion and views concerning Article 140.”

“The work of the committee is going on; we postponed our visit to some of the middle and southern areas in Iraq because of the security situation there”, Fahmi added.

Fahmi also said that additional teams were formed to pursue the measures of compensating the displacements and the emigrants in the city.

It’s worth mentioning that Article 140 deals with normalization of the situation in Kirkuk and the disputed areas.

http://pukmedia.com/english/Daily%20...5-16/news5.htm

Washington hosts seminar on Article 140
UN special rep seeks a political formula, not a "hastily formed referendum"

Few U.S. officials have a thorough understanding of Article 140, says Jay Garner, former administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority of Iraq.

In cooperation with Pennsylvania State University, the Kurdish Institute in Washington held a special seminar on May 9 concerning the implementation of Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution.

Hawar Shally, head of the Kurdish National Conference, warned that not implementing Article 140 will harm the security and stability of Iraq.

He said Article 140 contains suitable procedures to address the disputed, Arabized areas. Those problems should be solved according to the Constitution; new views, therefore, should not be presented to address them.

Shally warned that "not implementing Article 140 will negatively affect relations between the people of Kurdistan Region and the Baghdad government."

Article 140 of Iraq's Constitution provides a clear road map for settling the issue of Kirkuk and other disputed territories in the north, all of which were affected by a ruthless campaign of gerrymandering and ethnic cleansing under Saddam Hussein and his Baath Party in order to Arabize the region. Kurds, who control the northern Kurdistan Region, see Kirkuk as their ancient capital. Arabs encouraged to move there under Saddam Hussein want it to stay under Baghdad's control.

Jay Garner, who attended the seminar, said few U.S. officials have a thorough understanding of Article 140. He believes that it can be implemented in the future.

Muhammad Ihsan, Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Minister of Extra-Regional Affairs, said "the UN came into the issue [Article 140] following its delay on December 31, 2007. We are now waiting for the UN initiatives and suggestions. If their suggestions are in favor of the public interests and enable us to bring rights back to those whose rights were confiscated, we will support those suggestions as much as possible."

A referendum had been due by the end of 2007 to decide Kirkuk's status but was delayed for six months, partly to give the United Nations time to come up with proposals for settling the issue. Analysts say a vote on Kirkuk, which sits on one of the world's largest oil fields, could spark a bloodbath.

The UN's special representative to Iraq, Staffan de Mistura, said the status of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk must be solved through a political formula and not a hastily organized referendum that could trigger violence.

A peaceful settlement of multiethnic Kirkuk's fate, which he called the "mother of all issues" in Iraq, would be vital to long-term stability, said de Mistura.

"Kirkuk needs to be solved through a political formula in which everybody, majorities and minorities, feel comfortable," he added. "Otherwise, no referendum will be able to solve it and there will only be ongoing conflict; the last thing Iraq needs is a conflict about Kirkuk," he added.

De Mistura recently stated that the UN would suggest a formula by May 15 to resolve conflicts on several disputed areas in Iraq that could serve as a template for Kirkuk.

He said he would propose options so Iraq could decide under which authority to put four disputed locations, which he did not identify. These locations would not include Kirkuk.

http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/31126

Failure to apply art. 140 would have grave consequences – KRG

Failure to apply article 140 of the Iraqi constitution on Kirkuk would have "grave" consequences, the official spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said on Saturday.

"There would be grave political and security consequences for the Kurds in particular and the Iraqi people in general if article 140 was not applied," Jamal Abdullah told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

"There can be no reliance on the time element in settling complicated issues like Kirkuk. Any decision regarding article 140 has to be discussed with the Iraqi Kurdistan leadership as well as all parties and political blocs before starting to enforce it," said Abdullah.

Some Iraqi parties believe that article 140 could not be applied due to the expiry of its legal period. Kurds, however, argue that the parties who say this want to "evade" implementation of the article on the grounds that the "time frame" set by the Iraqi constitution has to do with "implementation, not commitment."

Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution is related to normalization in Kirkuk, an important and mixed city of Kurds, Turcomans, Christians, Arabs and Assyrians.

Kurds seek to include the city into the autonomous Iraq's Kurdistan region, while Sunni Muslims, Turcomans and Shiites oppose the incorporation. The article currently stipulates that all Arabs in Kirkuk be returned to their original locations in southern and central Iraqi areas, and formerly displaced residents returned to Kirkuk, 250 km northeast of Baghdad.

The article also calls for conducting a census to be followed by a referendum to let the inhabitants decide whether they would like Kirkuk to be annexed to the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region or having it as an independent province.

These stages were supposed to end on December 31, 2007, a deadline that was later extended to six months.

The former regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had forced over 250,000 Kurdish residents to give up their homes to Arabs in the 1970s, to "Arabize" the city and the region's oil industry.

http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/eng...=2&NrSection=1

Kurdish Leadership and UN Discuss De Mistura’s Suggestions in Baghdad

While it is expected that Stefan De Mistura, UN Chief Ban Ki Moon’s new envoy to Iraq to present the UN’s suggestions to dealing with article 140 to the Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s Political Leadership in the coming days, the Presidency of Kurdistan Region expressed its surprise at delaying of Mr. De Mistura’s suggestions.

“Currently negotiations are ongoing between the Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s Political Leadership and the UN in Baghdad on the suggested plan. The plan will be raised to the Iraqi Council of Representatives and then to the Iraqi Presidency to be formally endorsed. I expect that De Mistura’s project will be presented late this month,” Secretary General of Kurdistan Toilers Party, Kadir Aziz, told PUKmedia.

“We have no idea about delaying of the project, however we are surprised at the delaying of Mr. De Mistura’s suggestions,” the Head of the Kurdistan Region Presidency Office, Foad Hussein told PUKmedia.

http://pukmedia.com/english/Daily%20...-18/news13.htm

Muhammad Ihsan Discusses Article 140 with US Official

Dr. Muhammad Ihsan, the KRG Minister for Extra-Regional Affairs and the Representative of Kurdistan region in the Higher Committee of Article 140 implementation met Mr. Thomas Kregnisky, the Representative of the US Embassy of Article 140 affairs.

They discussed the implementation of Article 140 and the role of (UNAMI) in activating the forementioned article.

Both sides emphasized that carrying out the decisions of the higher committee of Article 140 will lead to the stability of the region. Kregnisky expressed his accord with the equity of this question and pledged to continue the efforts in order to settle it.

http://pukmedia.com/english/index.ph...370&Ite mid=1

Kirkuki: Article 140 must be Implemented before Elections

Dr. Kamal Kirkuki, deputy Kurdistan Parliament Speaker met Mr. Bell Dixon, the British consul in Kurdistan Region.

Mr. Kirkuki emphasized that Article 140 has its importance and privacy for the Kurdish people and said “this matter made us to send a high ranking delegation from the parliament to visit Mr. Di Mistura, U.N.’s secretary-general representative and Mr. Raed Fahmi, the head of Article 140 Implementing Committee in Baghdad.”

Concerning the allegations that said “implementing Article 140 is a complicated matter”, Mr. Kirkuki said “it is not true. The Iraqi constitution was issued by coordination of all political components, and 80% of Iraqi people accepted it. We must let the people of these areas to decide their fate through a democratic atmosphere to choose either being with Baghdad or Kurdistan Region.”

He added “this matter must be ended before the elections of the Provinces’ Councils.”

http://pukmedia.com/english/index.ph...428&Ite mid=1

De Mistura to Present his Suggestions on Article 140

Staffan De Mistura, the Representative of the UN Secretary General in Iraq is going to present his suggestions on Kirkuk’s issue and the disputed areas to the Iraqi Presidency tomorrow in order to find suitable solutions for that question.

Concerning that above-mentioned issue Mrs. Narmin Othman, the deputy head of Article 140 Committee said:” Tomorrow, De Mistura will present his suggestions and steps concerning the implementation of Article 140.”

http://pukmedia.com/english/News/4-6-2008/news1.htm