Calls for Sunni self-rule in Iraq gain momentum as September conference looms

Recent weeks have seen an unprecedented rise in demands for establishing a Sunni region in Iraq. This follows the appointment of tribal figure Raad al-Sulaiman al-Dulaimi, who plans to hold a conference next September in Anbar Governorate in western Iraq to discuss the issue. Many representatives from the Sunni-majority governorates—Anbar, Nineveh, Diyala, and Salah al-Din—will attend. 

Calls for the establishment of a Sunni self-rule region have surfaced multiple times over the years, beginning with the sectarian war in 2006. However, due to various internal and external circumstances, these efforts have not succeeded. 

This time, the initiative is led by Sunni politician Thaer al-Bayati, the secretary-general of the Arab Tribal Council and the founder of the Iraqi Salvation Front.

Sunni politicians are divided between supporters and opponents of federalism, according to their political orientations. Politicians allied with Shiite forces and those affiliated with the Turkish-backed Muslim Brotherhood movement have rejected the idea of establishing a Sunni region.

Politicians from Sunni tribes, especially those with significant influence or belonging to large tribes in the Sunni provinces, have agreed to the call for a Sunni region.

Region could represent 50% of Iraq

Article 119 of the Iraqi Constitution grants each governorate, or group of governorates, the right to establish their own region through a referendum, implemented in two ways: "First: A request from one-third of the members of each of the provincial councils that seek to form a region. Second: A request from one-tenth of the voters in each of the provinces that seek to form a region."

Despite this constitutional provision, the establishment of the Basra region, Iraq's southernmost province, was previously rejected, even though Shiite parties governed it. No Shiite region has been permitted.

If established, the Sunni region would represent 50% of Iraq's geographical area and share borders with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria. This region would be home to about 11 million people, constituting about a quarter of Iraq's population.

Previously, the governorates that would comprise the Sunni region—Anbar, Salah al-Din, Nineveh, and Diyala—were volatile and referred to as the Sunni Triangle. Al-Qaida and ISIS were active there, as were movements resisting the American presence in Iraq, especially in Fallujah, a city in Anbar Governorate.

The Iraqi government has not officially commented on the recent call to establish a Sunni region or the upcoming conference in September in Anbar province.

Muwaffaq Al-Sulaiman, a member of the Sunni Regional Conference organizing committee, told The Media Line, "We seek freedom. The Shiite parties have largely marginalized the Sunnis in Iraq, do not give them their rights, and take most of the budget for the Shiite provinces."

He said, "We do not want to separate from Iraq; it's only a region similar to the Kurdistan Region, where we govern ourselves. All four provinces agree to this principle; the difference is only in the details. National figures issue these calls, and we are the ones implementing them."

He continued, "We do not receive any international support. We are a purely Iraqi initiative, and we do not want any support from abroad. Our provinces live in poverty due to the poor distribution of the federal budget."

Regarding the region's funding sources, Al-Sulaiman said, "In Anbar, Salah al-Din, Diyala, and Nineveh, there are many benefits, whether oil, agriculture, tourism, and other minerals, trade, and others. We will be the ones who manage these resources."

He also said, "Even the police are not appointed from the province's people; they appoint people from distant areas, and our children do not get any jobs."

Regarding external support and the opinion of Iraq's neighboring countries, Al-Sulaiman said, "Iran does not want a Sunni region. It will lose its way to Syria. Currently, Iranian-backed militias are present in our areas, which are the border areas with Syria, and through these militias, weapons, and fighters are being transferred to Syria."

He added, "Turkey also does not want a Sunni region because it does not want the Kurds of Syria to join the Kurdistan Region and establish a Kurdish state, which also means the possibility of southern Turkey joining the new Kurdish state because it has a Kurdish majority."

He also said, "Jordan and the GCC countries may not object to establishing a Sunni region, but we have not communicated with them yet."

Jaafar al-Mandani, an Iraqi Shiite politician, told The Media Line, “The attempts to establish a region are being carried out under Israeli and American orders. They want to divide Iraq, and the Sunnis do not agree to that.”

Al-Mandani added, “There is only one region, the Kurdistan Region. The rest is unacceptable. The Sunnis enjoy their constitutional rights, and we will not allow the establishment of a region, even if that requires military intervention.”

He continued, “Kurdistan wanted to separate completely from Iraq, but the referendum failed, and all these attempts failed.”

Ahmed al-Hammani, an Iraqi political analyst, told The Media Line, “The Sunnis themselves are divided. There will be no Sunni region. There will be disagreements over leadership and who will assume the presidency of the region. There are no real Sunni parties.”

“Even the neighboring countries reject this. These are just attempts backed by Mohammed al-Halbousi, the former speaker of Parliament, who wants to pressure the government and the ruling parties to return to the parliament seat after the Federal Court’s decision to strip him of his membership last year,” Al-Hammani added.

A source in the ruling Coordination Framework in Iraq, who declined to be named, told The Media Line: “The establishment of a Sunni region in Iraq is unacceptable, and it is not even being discussed behind closed doors. The Coordination Framework and all Iraqis will reject it.” 

He continued: “It is just an attempt to blackmail to get more budget and increase the shares of the Sunni-majority provinces.”

Omar al-Dulaimi, an Iraqi political activist, told The Media Line, “It is not a sectarian region. Its official name will be the Central and Western Iraq Region.”

“The establishment of the region is an attempt to save what is left of the Sunnis in Iraq and protect them from the Shiite tide. Currently, there are major sectarian practices taking place in the Sunni provinces by the Popular Mobilization Forces—Iranian-backed militias created to fight ISIS—and they are killing based on identity and controlling all the resources of the Sunni provinces,” he said.

“They are also trying to change the sect of the people of the region, so the Sunnis in Iraq must be preserved through this region,” he added.