Kurdistan Region flag banned in Kirkuk for six years
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – It has been six years since the Kurdistan Region flag has been displayed in public institutions in Kirkuk, where a military takeover in 2017 reversed a provincial decision to display the national symbol.
The Kirkuk Provincial Council in March 2017 raised the Kurdistan Region flag in the governorate’s building and other public institutions alongside the Iraqi flag.
Despite a decision by the Iraqi parliament to ban the display of the Kurdistan flag in public institutions, the Council continued to raise the flag until the city was occupied by a military takeover by the Iraqi army and Iranian-backed Shiite militias.
“Until the status of Kirkuk is determined, the flags of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have to be raised together,” Rebwar Talabany, the former head of the council, told Kurdistan 24 on Monday.
Talabany was ousted from his position after the military occupation before the provincial councils were dissolved by the parliament.
The oil-rich city of Kirkuk constitutes a large part of the disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad.
Since the military occupation six years ago, several sectarian and ethnic flags have been freely raised across the province without any intimidation from security forces, according to representatives of the Kurdish parties speaking to Kurdistan 24.
“I can go and raise the flag, but I am certain it will be taken down by the military in two hours,” Shwan Mohammad, a member of the political office of the Kurdistan Tailors’ Party in Kirkuk, told Kurdistan 24.
While the Kurdish political parties are not allowed to raise the Kurdistan Region flag in their party offices, other parties have the freedom to wave their ethnic flags, such as the Turkmen, Kurdistan 24 has learned.
The absence of Kurdish forces since 2017 has led to the widening of the “security vacuum”, which has been exploited by the ISIS remnants. Kurdistan Region officials consistently call on Iraqi officials to increase security cooperation between Erbil and Baghdad.
Additional reporting by Kurdistan 24 Kirkuk Correspondent Hemin Dalo