KIRKUK, Iraq — Iraq’s long-suppressed Kurds have converged on oil-rich Kirkuk to claim it as their own, setting the stage for a struggle that will affect this country profoundly once the Americans hand over power to a new Iraqi leadership.
Already, tensions are rising among the Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen ethnic groups vying for control of the city.
Despite their shared Muslim faith, the three communities have been distrusting and killing each other for centuries. The hatred boiled over in May with the deaths of 11 persons, then in August when at least another 11 were killed. Clashes left two more dead on New Year’s Eve.
“This is not the Arabs’ homeland. Their home is in the south,” said Ribawar Ibrahim, a 25-year-old Kurd who fought Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Mr. Ibrahim is a “peshmerga,” or “one who faces death,” who marched with American forces and Kurdish comrades during the invasion of Iraq last year.
He gave up his weapons after the fall of Kirkuk but is willing to pick up a gun again to keep the city in Kurdish hands.
To ease tensions, U.S. troops are confiscating weapons and maintaining a nighttime curfew.
For centuries, Iraq’s rulers have used ethnicity as a tool for controlling Kirkuk, which forms a natural border between Kurdish-majority northern Iraq and the Arab-majority south.
Kirkuk was a Kurdish town until the late 19th century, when Ottoman rulers encouraged Turkish-speaking settlers to stay.
The last reliable census, in 1957, found that the Kurdish population of Kirkuk was reduced to 48.3 percent. Arabs comprised 28.2 percent and Turkmen 21.2 percent.
By the time Saddam came to power in 1979, his ruling Ba’ath Party’s policy of “Arabization” of Kirkuk was in full swing — Arabs from central and southern Iraq were given financial incentives to settle here. Kurdish officials say about 300,000 Kurds were evicted and forced to move north.
The northern provinces became free of Saddam’s control after the 1991 Persian Gulf war under a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone. The provinces became autonomously governed by Kurdish militias and parties.
Since the collapse of Saddam’s regime, about 35,000 Kurds have moved into Kirkuk, a city of 1.2 million people, and an estimated 100,000 Arabs have fled, said Kirkuk Deputy Gov. Hasseeb Rosh-Bayani.
Many of the Kurds are occupying government buildings, museums, former Ba’ath Party headquarters, old British forts and the city’s main soccer stadium.
Once a colorful ethnic cauldron, Kirkuk today has an entirely Kurdish face. Kurds dominate the police force, the new mayor is a Kurd, and Kurdish schools have sprung up everywhere.
“They took advantage of the situation. The Kurds took over official posts, they took over institutions, even buildings. They just inherited the old regime,” said Hussein Ali Saleh, a local Arab leader.
Kurds initially wanted a democratic Iraq to be divided into two federal states — Kurd and Arab. But most Iraqis and neighboring countries objected, fearing ethnic separatism would flare.
Kurds now are leaning toward the idea of creating a half-dozen smaller autonomous states with Kirkuk belonging to one of the Kurdish states.
But Arabs prefer to retain the 18 governates that existed under Saddam. They are demanding more representation in the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council, now consisting of 11 Kurds, six Arabs, six Turkmen and six Assyrians.
Many fear the militias will shed blood after the Americans withdraw.
“If they leave, it will be really serious in here,” said Col. Burhan Taha, a Turkmen policeman. “The police force can’t parallel the militias of the political parties.”
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