Kirkuk governor refuses to pull down Kurdish flag

KIRKUK, Iraq

Kirkuk governor Najmiddin Karim has refused to apply a decision by the Iraqi parliament to pull down the flag of northern Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on the city's public buildings and institutions.

"The decision taken in the Iraqi Parliament is not legal; it is a hasty decision," Karim said in a statement on Sunday.

"We have no obligation to implement this decision," he added.

"The political future of Kirkuk cannot be determined by raising or lowering the flag. Raising the flag doesn't mean the city is now a part of Kurdistan," the governor said.

Last week, 26 Kurdish members of Kirkuk’s provincial assembly voted in favor of raising the KRG flag 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.

Saturday's vote was boycotted by Kurdish lawmakers.

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

Baghdad says Kirkuk is administratively dependent on Iraq’s central government, while the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party demands Kirkuk’s incorporation into the Kurdish Region.

The city’s Turkmen residents, however, oppose this idea, saying Kirkuk should enjoy a “special status”.

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

* Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara