Kurdistani parties support Kirkuk ahead of Baghdad court hearing on flag dispute
By Rudaw57 minutes ago



Rebwar Talabani, acting head of Kirkuk Provincial Council, smiles while meeting with Kurdistani party officials the day before he will appear at a Baghdad court to defend raising the Kurdistan flag in Kirkuk. Photo: Rudaw video

KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region –

Kurdish political parties are rallying around the acting head of the Kirkuk Provincial Council in advance of his appearance at a Baghdad court to defend raising the Kurdistan flag in Kirkuk.

If the court takes a position of punishing the council head, the parties have pledged to encourage peaceful protests.

In March, the Kirkuk Provincial Council voted to raise the Kurdistan flag over government buildings alongside the Iraqi one. The council argues that the move is constitutionally valid as the province is disputed between Erbil and Baghdad and so it is right to fly the flags of both governments.

The decision was backed by the Brayati List in the council, which includes Turkmen and Arabs as well as Kurds. Some Turkmen and Arabs, however, opposed the move.

Members of the Iraqi Turkmen Front filed a case against the council in a Baghdad administrative court. Rebwar Talabani, acting council head, has been summoned to appear before the court on Monday.

On Sunday, political parties and lawyers gathered to show their support for Talabani.

Masoud Mulla Parwez, head of relations for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Kirkuk, told Rudaw, “Certainly our visit is to support Rebwar Talabani because a lawsuit has been filed against him.”

“We, the Kurdistani parties came to support the decision to raise the Kurdistan flag in Kirkuk and we will continue to support any national decision,” he said.

Parwez argued that this is not the first time Baghdad has taken a stand in opposition to the Kirkuk government and warned, “If the trial proceeds in a direction to punish Rebwar Talabani, we will react. We will probably encourage our people to peacefully take to the streets.”

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.

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