N.Iraqi Kurdish govt must lower flag in Kirkuk: Erdogan

By Humeyra Atilgan Buyukovali

ZONGULDAK, Turkey (AA) - Turkey's president Tuesday slammed northern Iraq's Kurdish administration for flying its flag at public buildings in Kirkuk, saying it should take it down at once or see ties with Turkey suffer.

"I find it totally wrong that a second flag has been raised in Kirkuk alongside the national flag [of Iraq]," said Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak, saying that flying the regional government flag "encourages separatism."

Speaking at an inauguration ceremony, Erdogan said the Kurdistan Regional Government should "correct its mistake" and “take the flag down immediately,” warning that relations with Turkey could sour if they do not.

Erdogan also strongly rejected the idea that the city belongs to the Kurds only, saying, "Kirkuk belongs to Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds, and all who live there."

Last week, 26 Kurdish members of Kirkuk’s provincial assembly voted in favor of raising the flag of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) alongside Iraq’s national flag outside the city’s public buildings and institutions.

But on Saturday, the Iraqi parliament rejected the decision and voted in favor of flying only the Iraqi flag on Kirkuk's buildings.

Kirkuk Governor Najmiddin Karim, however, refused to apply the parliament’s decision to take down the KRG flag.

During the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Kurdish Peshmerga forces seized Kirkuk, prompting an influx of Kurds into the ethnically diverse city.

While Baghdad says Kirkuk is administratively dependent on Iraq’s central government, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan -- an influential political party in the region -- wants to see the city incorporated into northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

Kirkuk’s population is composed mainly of Arab, Turkmen and Kurdish inhabitants.