PUK allied with Arab list for Iraq’s elections in Tuz Khurmatu: member

Head of PUK organization office in Hamrin, Mala Karim Shakur, told NRT Arabic channel on Friday, February 2, that the party has allied with the List of the Arab Masses in Tuz Khurmatu for the elections in Iraq.

Through this alliance, “The PUK will get all the positions it has lost in the past [months],” Shakur stated.

Arab Masses is a Sunni Arab list in the province of Saladin, led by the current governor of the province.

Tuz Khurmatu, located 180 km north of Baghdad, lies in an area of disputed territory between the Kurdish-administered north and southern regions under the central government, with an ethnically diverse population of Turkmen, Kurds and Arabs.

In mid-October, Iraqi forces along with Hashid al-Shaabi launched an operation to take control of the disputed areas from the Kurdish forces in the wake of September 25th independence referendum.

The Saladin Provincial Council sacked the Tuz Khurmatu mayor, Shalal Abdul, a PUK member, on January 10 and chose another mayor for the district.

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