Iraqi President Fuad Masum says troops had no choice but to take over the administration of the disputed oil city of Kirkuk after Kurdish authorities held a referendum for independence last month.
Masum, himself a Kurd, says the referendum “provoked dangerous disputes” between Baghdad and Irbil, the capital of the country’s Kurdish region, forcing federal forces to take Kirkuk. Masum addressed Iraqis in a televised speech today.
Kurdish forces moved into the city in 2014 to secure it against advancing Islamic State forces after national defenses collapsed. They withdrew Monday ahead of advancing federal forces and militias, in a blow to Kurdish aspirations for statehood.
Since then, Kurdish forces have been withdrawing from disputed territories across northern and eastern Iraq, including areas they acquired in the tumult of the war on the Islamic State group.
— AP
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