The recently appointed Governor of Kirkuk, has issued a warning to all government offices and administrative units to incorporate Turkmen and Syriac languages in official communications, in addition to Arabic and Kurdish.
The directive signed by Rebwar Taha, member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK, was distributed to all offices, unions, trade unions, and registered organizations on Monday August 19.
As per the permanent constitution of Iraq, Arabic and Kurdish are recognized as the country's official languages, with Turkmen and Syriac also holding official status in administrative units where they are spoken by a significant portion of the population.
The northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, located 238 kilometers north of Baghdad, is an ethnically mixed province with 1,7 million Kurds, Sunni and Shiite Arabs, and Turkmen. It has long been at the center of disputed territories between Baghdad and Erbil.
The Arabs held all senior positions in Iraq, including Kirkuk, up to 2003. Since 2005, the Kurds have held the senior positions in Kirkuk, including the governorship, up to October 2017 when Iraqi troops ousted the Kurdish forces following the declaration of victory over the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Kurdish referendum for independence.
The Kurdish governor was replaced late 2017 by acting governor, Rakan al-Jibouri, an Arab, who currently with the Turkmen oppose election of new governor.
In September 2021, the Kirkuk administration mandated that all signage must be displayed in all four languages spoken in Kirkuk.
The Governor's directive comes just nine days after assuming office on August 10. However, some members of the provincial council representing Arabs and Turkmen have expressed opposition to his appointment and have appealed to the Federal Court which rejected their call for suspending the provincial council until the case is determined.
The Iraqi constitution stipulates that the Arabic and Kurdish languages are two official languages approved for the issuance of official documents. Paragraph (c) of that article states that the recognition of official documents and correspondence and the issuance of official documents are in both languages.
With regard to other languages, the article states that "the Turkmen language and the Syriac language are two other official languages in the administrative units in which they form a population density."
