KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region – The Iraqi Turkmen Front (IFT) in Kirkuk and the Turkish foreign ministry have condemned raising the Kurdistan flag at the government building in the city after the historic move was approved in a vote on the Provincial Council on Tuesday, saying it threatens the security of the area.
Deputy Kurdish Prime Minister Qubad Talabani welcomed the move, invoking Kurdish sentiments that Kirkuk is the heartland of their nation.
Hassan Toran, deputy leader of the IFT, condemned the decision in a press conference, saying "making such a decision came when Arabs and Turkmen boycotted the session and issuing this decree confirms the division of Kirkuk’s community."
"We think the decision is wrong,” Toran said. “We think the protection of Kirkuk's security is the most important thing."
He warned they will take necessary measures against raising the flag across the province's state buildings.
"We take every legal, constitutional, and peaceful option as they are all open to us. Turning to the court is one of these choices," he declared.
Qubad Talabani, deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan Region, congratulated the people of Kirkuk for hoisting the Kurdistan flag.
"Congratulations on raising our flag in the Kurdistan Jerusalem," he said in a Facebook post. Kurds traditionally refer to Kirkuk as its sacred ‘Jerusalem,’ the heart of the Kurdish nation.
He reminded people of famous quote from his father Jalal Talabani, former president of Iraq and leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), when he addressed a public gathering in the spring of 1992, saying "The key to resolve the Kurdish issue is Kirkuk, only Kirkuk, and will only be Kirkuk."
The KRG deputy PM also said "the flag, under which the peoples of Kirkuk will live in peace and away from the reach of terror will always fly high and remain bright with the bravery and blood of our courageous Peshmerga."
The Turkish foreign ministry also expressed concern over what it called a “unilateral” decision to raise the Kurdish flag, violating the constitution of Iraq.
"Approving a decree by the Kirkuk Provincial Council after voting on hoisting Kurdistan flag over the state buildings in the city is a wrong act,” the ministry stated, as reported by Anadolu Agency.
"The decree comes when the Turkmen and Arab representatives have boycotted the session. We consider it a unilateral move and a violation of the Iraqi constitution and the disputed structure of Kirkuk. Any unilateral move in Kirkuk, which contains many components and various identities, will harm the phases of dialogue, constitution, and talks. It also harms the permanent security of Iraq. Therefore the parties should responsibly deal with the delicate phases, as done in the past."
The Kirkuk Provincial Council voted on Tuesday to raise the Kurdistan flag over state buildings in the province. Some Turkmen and Arab representatives boycotted the session following earlier concerns that the move may cause conflict among the city's diverse population.
Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim, the head of Kirkuk Provincial Council Rebwar Talabani, members of the council, and some of the city’s officials gathered in front of the provincial building as the governor raised the Kurdistan flag.
The governor said that the vote is “a historic decision” for the province and represents the will of the people of Kirkuk, including Turkmen, Arab, Assyrians, and Kurds, adding that this move does not affect the “the political future of Kirkuk.”
Karim noted that among those who voted for the Kurdistan flag were Turkmen, Arab, and Assyrians as the Kurdish-led Brotherhood faction who voted in favour also includes non-Kurds.
Toran urged "Iraqi leaders in Baghdad, Erbil, and Sulaimani to wisely make decisions. Make the brotherhood feeling in this delicate province dominant over any other thing. What is really important for all of us is the security and future of this city as it will not be fulfilled without peaceful co-existence between its elements."
Relations between the city’s diverse peoples must be sustained, Toran added, saying his party rejects "one-nation, or one-party hegemony over the city on the decisive questions of Kirkuk."
He added this decision is contrary to the Iraqi constitution, “since Article 140 has not determined the identity of Kirkuk.”
Saad al-Hadithi, the spokesperson of the Iraqi Prime Minister, told Rudaw on Tuesday that the move by the local government in Kirkuk is “unconstitutional.”
Hadithi added that "no local government which is part of the central government should raise its own flag except for Iraq's.”
"Kirkuk is part of the central government, not the region as it receives its wages and affairs from Baghdad. It does not have the right to make such decisions without turning to the central [government]."
Governor Karim raised the Kurdistan flag alongside the Iraqi one over the castle of Kirkuk on the eve of the Kurdish New Year, Newroz, on March 20, after he signed a decree to raise the Kurdistan flag a week before. He then asked the Kirkuk Provincial Council to consider raising the flag over state institutions.
The multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk is home to Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen among others. It has been secured by Kurdish Peshmerga forces since mid-2014 after Iraqi government troops left the city ahead of a possible attack by radical Islamic insurgents when they took over large swathes of the country. The province has one of Iraq’s largest oil fields within its borders.
