A week of simmering tension has erupted into violence in Kirkuk in Iraq.

This comes after reports that Kurds were to be given back a building that had become the Iraqi security forces’ provincial headquarters.

Intended by the Iraqi government in Baghdad as a gesture of goodwill to Kurds, this led instead to a furious reaction from Arabs and Turkmen who are in the minority in the city.

Some say it underlines the fragile peace in the area and the volatility of politics in the interethnic province.

So how can the unrest be resolved?

Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault

Guests:

Ahmed Rushdi – President of the House of Iraqi Expertise Foundation and foreign policy adviser for the Iraqi Parliament’s Secretary General

Julian Bechocha – journalist and reporter for Rudaw, a leading media network in Kurdistan Iraq

 Zeidon Alkinani – non-resident fellow at the Arab Center Washington DC