Kirkuk governor says not officially told to step down amid rumours

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kirkuk Governor Rebwar Taha said on Tuesday that he has not been officially informed to step down amid reports claiming his party has agreed to hand over the post to a Turkmen candidate.

“We have not been told anything about this matter up to this moment. Like everyone else, I have only heard it in the media,” Taha told reporters. “Sometimes I even laugh and ask, ‘What is this?’ I have not been officially informed at all.”

He added that any position on the issue would depend on formal notification. “We will, of course, have a say once we are officially informed,” he said.

Taha, a PUK member of the Kirkuk Provincial Council, was nominated for governor during a special council session held in Baghdad in early August 2024. His appointment marked the return of a Kurdish governor to Kirkuk for the first time since 2017.

The session was boycotted by representatives of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and the Arab Alliance, all of whom argued that it violated legal procedures.

Abdullah Mirways, a PUK member of the Kirkuk Provincial Council, denied that any agreement had been reached between the party and Sunni Arab or Turkmen groups regarding a transfer of the governorship.

“Whatever decision the PUK leadership makes, we will abide by it. So far, we have not received anything official on this matter,” Mirways said.

The rumors surfaced amid reports of a meeting between PUK leader Bafel Talabani and Mohammed Samaan Agha, head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front in Baghdad.

“The governor’s post remains a longstanding demand for us, but what is being circulated on social media is nothing new and amounts to speculation,” Mohammed Ayad, director of the Iraqi Turkmen Front’s media office, told Rudaw. He added that the meeting between Samaan Agha and Talabani did not concern the Kirkuk governorship.

Amir Izzat, a politburo member of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, said that in exchange for relinquishing the Kirkuk governor post, the PUK has demanded four positions: the mayor of Dibis, the mayor of Daquq, the central mayor of Kirkuk city, and the head of Kirkuk’s Police Command.

In mid-May 2025, Ahmed Kirkuki, another PUK member of the provincial council, told Rudaw that no agreement had been signed with Turkmen or Arab parties to rotate the governorship after two years.

“There is no evidence of any arrangement to share the post of Kirkuk governor between the PUK and Sunni parties for a fixed period,” Kirkuki said.

A day later, Mohammed Ali Tamim, a leader of the Sunni Taqadoum Party, disputed that claim in a Facebook post, stating: “A PUK council member said there is no basis for exchanging positions in Kirkuk. We emphasize that the signed agreement clearly addresses this, and we believe the council member either has not seen the agreement or is disregarding its contents.”

Given Kirkuk’s status as a multi-ethnic and disputed province with a complex demographic history, election law mandates that power be distributed in a manner that ensures fair representation and participation of all components, regardless of election results.

Sangar Abdulrahman contributed to this article from Erbil, Kurdistan Region.