UMass Boston Hosts Peace Delegates from
Divided Cities in Kirkuk, Iraq
October
05, 2012
McCormack Graduate
School
Despite the security risks, delegations from
11 divided cities will arrive in Kirkuk, Iraq on Saturday for a six-day
conference led by UMass Boston’s Moakley Chair for Peace and Reconciliation
Professor Padraig O’Malley. Representatives from these cities will share their
experiences dealing with similar divisions that tore their own countries apart
in decades of war. They will try to help Kirkuk find ways to settle its
problems before the city explodes in violence and Kurdistan, along with the
central government, become embroiled in another war.
These cities are members of the Forum for
Cities in Transition (FCT), an international network of mayors, councilors,
municipal officials, business people, and representatives of the voluntary and
community sector from previously warring communities across the globe. The
forum works on the principle that cities that are in conflict or have emerged
from conflict are in the best position to help other cities in similar
situations. FCT began as a pilot project in 2009 at UMass Boston and delegates
decided to meet annually in one of the member cities to continue the peace and
reconciliation processes.
Kirkuk is making extraordinary security
arrangements to ensure the safety of the delegates from UMass Boston and the 11
divided cities of Baghdad, Beirut, Belfast, Derry-Londonderry, Kaduna, Kirkuk,
Mitrovica, Mostar, Nicosia, Ramallah, and Tripoli. Because of their commitment
to help fellow forum members, these conference participants are willing to
travel to Kirkuk despite the risks and the possibility of being targeted by
insurgent groups.
Kirkuk is one of the most dangerous and
volatile cities in Iraq. The city is divided among Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen,
along with smaller minorities from other ethnic and religious groups. The Kurds
want to become part of the autonomous region of neighboring Kurdistan while
Arabs and Turkmen want to remain within Kirkuk “proper."
The host city has a past and present history
as a fractured society. Kirkuk was heavily “Arabized” during the regime of
Saddam Hussein. In a vicious war with the Kurds who were seeking autonomy,
Saddam cleared them from the city and replaced them with Arabs. After the U.S.
invasion in 2003, displaced Kurds returned to Kirkuk to reclaim their homes and
property. According to Article 140 of the Iraq constitution, the matter
of where Kirkuk “belonged” would be settled by referendum by December 31, 2007.
However, this referendum has yet to take place, mainly due to security reasons
and the inability to agree on who should have the right to vote.
Today, tensions between the Kirkuk Regional
Government (KRG) and the central government in Baghdad are at an all-time high
as they try to sort out their differences on the city’s standing. Kirkuk is at
the epicenter of the conflict between the two and often the scene of some of
Iraq’s most violent spates of bombings.
Also, over 15 percent of the country's oil
reserves and 40 percent of natural gas reserves are in the Kirkuk region,
making it the most resource-rich governate in Iraq.
O'Malley and a small group of McCormack
Graduate School staff are organizing and leading this third annual conference.
Previous forums were held in Mitrovica in 2010 and Derry/Londonderry in 2011.
Collectively the cities work together because they share special
characteristics that bind them as a result of their past experience in war.
According to O’Malley, “The fact that delegations from 11 other cities which once were the epicenters of their own communal conflicts are willing to make the hazardous journey to Kirkuk in an attempt to assist the city is not only testimony to their courage but of their commitment to help each other. They are aware of the dangers that may face them in Kirkuk, but are undeterred.”
According to O’Malley, “The fact that delegations from 11 other cities which once were the epicenters of their own communal conflicts are willing to make the hazardous journey to Kirkuk in an attempt to assist the city is not only testimony to their courage but of their commitment to help each other. They are aware of the dangers that may face them in Kirkuk, but are undeterred.”
Padraig O’Malley is the John Joseph Moakley Distinguished
Professor of Peace and Reconciliation and a celebrated facilitator/convener and
author on topics related to divided societies. O’Malley has played major roles
in breaking the gridlock and promoting peace in South Africa, Northern Ireland,
and, more recently, the Middle East.
Resources
The Forum for Cities in Transition from
Conflict maintains a website that allows the cities to interact
with each other on both a formal and informal basis. The site is also open to
the public, who are invited to visit and participate.
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