KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region — Governor of Kirkuk Najmaldin Karim defended on Wednesday his recent decision to raise the Kurdish flag atop official buildings in the city, adding meanwhile that the move does not violate the Iraqi constitution.
Karim told reporters at a press conference upon returning from a visit to the Qaratapa refugee camp that “the constitution does not say that only flag must be raised in Kirkuk.”
He added that the people of Kirkuk are the ones to decide which flag they raise.
He was responding to comments from Turkish officials that raising the Kurdish flag in Kirkuk would cause tensions and instability.
“No foreign country has the right to meddle in the affairs of Kirkuk city,” the governor said. “We reject those comments.
“Kirkuk has the right to fly whatever flag it wants.”
Karim decided last week that the Kurdish flag must fly next to the Iraqi flag on top of government buildings and major public places.
He has also asked members of the provincial council to convene and officially vote on making the raising of the flag.
Turkish officials and the United Nations office in Iraq expressed concerns that the move was against the province’s ethnic harmony and coexistence.
Governor Karim dismissed the concerns, saying: “It doesn’t say in the constitution that only one flag could fly in Kirkuk or that only one party can rule.
“In fact what is said about raising the Kurdish flag in Kirkuk is neither constitutional nor appropriate,” he added.
He thought that raising the Kurdish flag “would strengthen brotherhood in Kirkuk not jeopardize it.”
