Iraq's Turkmens reject exclusion from talks regarding disputed regions

KIRKUK, Iraq (AA) – Iraqi Turkmens have criticized their exclusion from government meetings regarding Kirkuk and other disputed regions.

On Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani attended a meeting in Baghdad to discuss a resolution of political and economic disputes between the central government and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). Turkmens were not invited to the meeting.

Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution focuses on the status of the disputed regions in northern Iraq.

“Turkmens reject the [government] decisions regarding the status of the disputed regions, especially Kirkuk,” reads a joint statement by the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) and other Turkmen political parties.

“The future, status and administration of Kirkuk, on which the Turkmens do not have a say, would be incomplete,” the statement said.

The Turkmen parties described as “unacceptable” the failure to include Turkmens in political alliances during the government formation talks.

For his part, former ITF head Arshad Salihi termed the enforcement of Article 140 of the Constitution as a “blow to national partnership in Iraq.”

“The fact that Kirkuk and its national identity are on Türkiye's agenda are of great importance for the Turkmens in Iraq,” he said.

A commission composed of representatives of Turkmen, Kurdish and Arab parties from Kirkuk had failed to reach an agreement on the disputed areas and Article 140 was abolished by the end of 2007.

While Kurdish political leaders argue that the article 140 should be applied to determine the status of Kirkuk, the city’s Turkmens and Arabs state that the article ended legally at the end of 2007.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report