It seems that the idea of a ‘special status for Kirkuk’ is attainable

Following yesterday’s developments, it seems that the idea of a ‘special status for Kirkuk’ is attainable. Although there’s no confidence in the political judgement of Jalal Talabani, the leader of the Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (IPUK), who made this declaration, the Foreign Ministry didn’t contradict him. Moreover, ministry sources confirmed reports of Talabani’s ‘Brussels-style’ proposal for Kirkuk, adding that Talabani had agreed not to unite Kirkuk with the Kurdish or Arabic region. Pointing to the excessive number of Kurds flocking to Kirkuk, the sources charged that this was meant to skew a census set for Oct. 12, and called on Talabani to change his attitude, which is at odds with his proposal. But there wasn’t any indication then of how Turkey saw this proposal. The answer came in the afternoon. Speaking at a monthly press conference, Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug said they believed giving Kirkuk a special status and protecting this status would be a cure for the regions ills. It was after listening to Basbug that I concluded that Turkey was about to agree with the Iraqi Kurds on the Kirkuk issue. In fact, Basbug said yesterday ‘Of course, this is the Iraqis’ decision,’ but later on he laid out why Kirkuk is important for ‘Turkey’s security.’ The first reason he cited was the region’s abundant oil, and the second was the native Turkmen. Lastly, he stated that cultural reasons were also important, as Iraq has a multiethnic structure.