"Kurds' strong showing in Kirkuk threatens to inflame tensions
BY LIZ SLY
Chicago Tribune
BAGHDAD, Iraq - (KRT) - Unofficial results from Kirkuk suggest that Kurdish parties have won a big majority in elections for the local government there, leaving Iraq's Kurds in a powerful position to press their claim to the disputed oil-rich city.
Kurdish officials and media say that an electoral alliance of the two main Kurdish parties has won at least 59 percent in the local election, a result that would further bolster Kurdish claims that the northern city of Kirkuk is Kurdish.
The result could inflame tensions between Kurds and Kirkuk's Arab and Turkmen residents, who believe they outnumber the Kurds in the already tense city.
Politicians from Iraq's Turkmen community charge that only massive fraud could have produced such a result for the alliance of Kurdish parties, the Kirkuk Brotherhood, and they say they are challenging the result with Iraq's Election Commission.
'We are not satisfied with this result, though that doesn't mean we don't accept democracy,' said Faruq Abdel Rahman, president of the Turkmen Front, which has close ties to Turkey. 'If any political party wins and the other loses based on forgery, false figures and marginalization, this cannot be considered democratic.'
Neighboring Turkey, alarmed at the prospect of Kirkuk falling under Kurdish control, has also weighed in with complaints about the election, hinting that Turkey may feel obliged to intervene if Kirkuk becomes part of Iraqi Kurdistan."
More:KRT Wire | 02/10/2005 | Kurds' strong showing in Kirkuk threatens to inflame tensions
