Peshmerga's Return To Kirkuk Unacceptable, Says Iraqi Turkmen Leader

The head of Iraqi Turkmen Front on Thursday criticized the return of Peshmerga forces to Kirkuk, as the Iraqi government approved Peshmerga forces becoming part of the Defense Ministry.

Arshad al-Salihi said in a statement that the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) has insisted on placing its armed forces in Kirkuk for years.

It is not possible to accept the Baghdad administration's decision "that could not be carried out transparently by excluding the Turkmens and Arabs in Kirkuk ... which resulted in violation of the Iraqi Constitution," he stated.

Al-Salihi also commented on the early elections in October, saying that the current government is only bound to perform the daily tasks and is not capable of making decisions concerning country or the people of Iraq.

The Iraqi Turkmen Front will continue to follow the situation and will not allow "fait accompli" in the region, he vowed.

The Kirkuk province has a sizeable ethic Turkmen population, dating back to the Ottoman centuries, and Iraq's neighbor Turkey has taken a firm stance against attempts to manipulate its ethnic makeup. -