Turkiye calls Iraq to review its decision about adopting the Turkmen language

Shafaq News/ On Thursday, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited the Iraqi authorities to review its decision regarding restricting the official use of the Turkmen language in Kirkuk Governorate.

"This decision constitutes a violation of the fundamental rights of the Turkmens, who are one of the constituent and primary components of Iraq. It also clearly contradicts with the provisions of the Iraqi Constitution as Article Four of the Constitution stipulates that Turkmen will be the official language in the administrative units in which Turkmen population is concentrated. Likewise, Article 125 of the Iraqi Constitution emphasizes that the Constitution guarantees the administrative and cultural rights of all components of Iraq." The Turkish Ministry said.

"We believe that such steps, which ignore the rights and sensitivities of one of the main components of Iraq and the province of Kirkuk, will harm the efforts towards establishing a culture of peaceful coexistence in Kirkuk." It added.

Yesterday, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia'a al-Sudani, directed to make Turkmen a third official language in official communications within Kirkuk Governorate.

The spokesperson for the Iraqi government, Basem Al-Awadi, said the decision was based on a law stating that the Turkmen and the Syriac languages are two official languages in the administrative units where the population is of Turkmen or Syriacs.

"The government considers all Iraq's components are equal based on the Iraqi constitution." He added.

Kirkuk is located in northeastern Iraq, near the foot of the Zagros Mountains in the Kurdistan region.

Its population is of mixed Turkmen, Arab, and Kurdish.