Rethinking past, today and future of Kirkuk and its black gold

Kirkuk has been one of the main problems of Iraq due to its various ethnic groups such as Kurds, Turkmens, Arabs as well as representing three monotheistic religions of Jewish, Christianity and Islam. The discovery of the oil at the beginning of 20th century attracted large numbers of Arab and Kurdish settlers and as a result ethnic affiliation became a source of conflict. Today by the accelerating tensions between Bagdad government and Erbil autonomous administration, the status of Kirkuk is indefinite whether to belong to the central government authority of Kurdistan regional government (KRG) authority. The signature of contracts with the KRG and international energy companies hindered the Iraq’s constitutional structure and enhanced the claims of KRG for the official control of Kirkuk city. The military power of KRG makes the problem much more complex and gives the signal of use of force for the control of the city which definitely means the civil war in Northern Iraq. At this point I argue that the latest developments on the Kirkuk issue such as signing direct contracts with KRG has accelerated the tensions and affected the future of Kirkuk. Therefore the aim of this paper is to analyze the current status of Kirkuk in terms of energy politics and its implications for the future of the city