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Turkmen boycott vote on referendum to annex Kirkuk to Kurdistan

April 5, 2017 at 4:19 pm

Turkmen protest against the hanging of northern Iraq’s Kurdish flag on 29 March 2017 [Ali Mukarrem Garip/Anadolu]

The Turkmen bloc in Iraq’s Kirkuk Provincial Council boycotted yesterday’s session held to discuss raising the flag of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) alongside the Iraqi flag in the disputed oil-rich city, a senior member of the council said.

Council members were expected to vote on holding a referendum on the issue of uniting the region with the Kurdish provinces, the Anadolu Agency reported.

Read more: Kirkuk governor refuses to pull down Kurdish flag

Turkmen member of the Kirkuk Provincial Council, Ali Mahdi, accused the Kurdish bloc of wanting to create friction in Kirkuk.

The Iraqi parliament voted on 1 April against the decision of the Kirkuk Provincial Council to raise the flag of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) alongside the Iraqi flag.

Kurdish lawmakers boycotted the parliamentary session and lawmakers voted to lower the KRG’s flag from all governmental buildings in Kirkuk.

The United Nations and Turkey have warned that the move “threatens peaceful coexistence of religious and ethnic groups” which include a mix of ethnicities including Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs.