SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) President Bafel Talabani expressed his “deepest” concerns regarding the unrest that erupted in Kirkuk on Saturday, urging justice for the victims of the violence in the ethnically mixed oil-rich city.
“We are deeply concerned regarding the events and the unwanted developments in Kirkuk, specifically the martyrdom of a young Kurdish man and the injuring of several more,” PUK’s Talabani in a message said.
“We strongly condemn any attempts to disrupt the brotherhood and coexistence in Kirkuk,” he added.
In the meantime, Talabani in his message urged justice for the Kurdish demonstrators who have been killed and injured due to gunfire from the Iraqi security forces, according to the message.
“Shedding the blood of our youths is unacceptable and their lives and fates should not be played under the name of the sense of nationalism,” Talabani said.
“I urge all sides to act with the Kirkuk’s situation with utmost responsibility,” Talabani continued.
In his concluding remarks, Talabani also urged maintaining the peace and coexistence between the different ethics of Kirkuk, calling for coordination to end the situation.
Four Kurdish protesters were shot dead and 14 were wounded on Saturday during clashes between ethnic groups in the oil city of Kirkuk that broke out after days of tensions, security forces and police said.
The dispute centres on a building in Kirkuk that was once the headquarters for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) but which the Iraqi army has used a base since 2017, according to Reuters.
The central government plans to return to the building to the KDP in a show of goodwill but Arab and Turkmen opponents set up a camp outside the building last week in protest.
The violence was sparked when a group of Kurdish protesters approached the camp on Saturday, police said.
Police and hospital sources had said earlier that one Kurdish protester was killed. The death toll rose after three more Kurdish protesters died in hospital from bullets wounds, they said.
Security officials and police in the city say they were investigating the circumstances of the deaths, including who opened fire. People from both protest groups were wounded as stones were thrown and metal bars used to attack, Kirkuk police said.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani ordered a curfew in the city to prevent an escalation of the violence, calling on “political parties, social organizations, and community leaders to play their part in preventing strife and preserving security, stability, and order”.
Kirkuk, an oil-rich province in northern Iraq along the fault lines between the Kurdish autonomous region and areas controlled by Iraq’s Shi’ite-dominated central government, has been the focus of some of the country’s worst post-Islamic State violence.
