Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
29 July 2008

Statement by the Kurdistan Regional Government

Yesterday a suicide bomber exploded a bomb during a peaceful demonstration in the city of Kirkuk. Twenty-five people were killed and 180 others were injured. Many of the injured remain in hospital.

The Kurdistan Regional Government condemns this cowardly terrorist attack on innocent people. We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and we thank the emergency and security services and the people of Kirkuk for coming to their aid. We will do our utmost to ensure that medical treatment and facilities are made available to help the injured, within the Kurdistan Region and beyond.

The terrorist attack targeted a peaceful demonstration against the Iraqi parliament’s unlawfull secret ballot on Kirkuk. The demonstrators called for the Constitution’s Article 140 to be implemented. They used peaceful means to express their wishes, and were answered with a cowardly terrorist attack.

We will never allow terrorists to stop our people from achieving their legitimate rights. The will of the people of Kirkuk and other so-called disputed territories should be respected and their wishes should be carried out as set out in the Iraqi Constitution, not by secret ballots on dubious bills. The Iraqi Parliament’s method of attempting to pass the bill gives terrorists opportunities to drive rifts between the Iraqi people and bring more hardship to the rest of the country.

Our position on the injustices against the people of Kirkuk is very clear: Failing to implement Article 140 would be a breach of the Constitution that can only complicate and worsen the situation.

We have chosen to solve the issue constitutionally, so that the different peoples of Kirkuk and other disputed territories may live together peacefully. Implementing Article 140 would thwart those who are doing all they can to prevent a peaceful resolution in Kirkuk.

We ask the people of Kirkuk - Kurds, Arabs, Turcomans, Chaldeans and Assyrians - to stand united and continue to live together peacefully.