Shafaq News- Diyala

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the largest Kurdish bloc in Iraq’s parliament, on Tuesday rejected Baghdad’s decision to upgrade Jalawla and Qara Tapa to independent districts and separate them from Khanaqin in Diyala province, warning that the move could prompt escalating local action.

Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, has a population of nearly 1.6 million people from Arab, Kurdish, and Turkmen communities, and several of its districts are classified as disputed territories under the Iraqi Constitution.

In a statement issued by its Khanaqin branch, the party argued that the measures violate Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, which sets out a three-step process —normalization, census, and referendum— to determine the status of disputed territories between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Region.

The KDP described Khanaqin as a longstanding model of coexistence among its ethnic and religious communities and cautioned that altering its administrative structure outside constitutional mechanisms disregards the will of its residents. The party called for a full reversal of the decisions, affirming support for what it termed “legitimate demands,” including peaceful protest or civil disobedience permitted by law.

Meanwhile, local sources told Shafaq News that a general civil disobedience campaign is expected across the district on Wednesday in response to the changes.

Iraq on Monday officially upgraded Jalawla, located about 70 kilometers northeast of Baquba and home to roughly 94,000 residents, from a subdistrict to a full district, granting it administrative authority over surrounding areas. The Ministry of Planning said the decision followed a detailed study by its Directorate of Regional and Local Development assessing demographic and economic indicators. The General Board for Kurdistani Areas outside the Region cautioned that altering the town’s administrative status without coordination between Erbil and Baghdad represents a unilateral move outside the constitutional mechanism governing contested areas.

In 2025, the ministry also approved elevating Qara Tapa to district status, a step the Kurdistan Region considered political and unconstitutional.