The president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, Massud Barzani, said he won't "compromise" on longstanding Kurdish claims to the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, in a speech late Sunday.
"We are committed to the application of Article 140 [of the Iraqi constitution] and we promise that we will absolutely not compromise on this issue or on the rights of the people of Kurdistan," Barzani said at a campaign rally ahead of Kurdish regional elections Saturday.
Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution calls for a referendum to decide the fate of Kirkuk, which the Kurds have long wanted to make the capital of their autonomous region in the north, an aim strongly opposed by the province's Arab and Turkmen communities.
"Claiming legitimate and constitutional rights is not extremist or racist," Barzani said. "On the contrary, what is extremist and racist is the denial of agreements and articles of the constitution."
He was speaking at a rally for the joint list of the two main Kurdish former rebel factions which are expected to sweep next weekend's elections for the Kurdish regional presidency and parliament.
In the election run-up, tensions between Barzani and the central government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have heightened over Kurdish claims to Kirkuk province and parts of three other historically Kurdish-populated provinces - Diyala, Nineveh and Salaheddin.
During the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, Kurdish peshmerga rebels occupied many of the disputed districts. The former rebels are now deployed alongside soldiers of the Iraqi national army triggering tensions and periodic clashes that have raised the prospect of armed conflict between the two sides.