For its part, Turkey opposed raising a flag other than the Iraqi one in Kirkuk. Hussein Mufti Oglu, the spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry, said in a press statement on March 20, “We were shocked by the official letter issued by the Kirkuk province, in which the provincial council called on raising the KRG flag next the Iraqi one over official buildings in the city.”
He added, “Any unilateral decision regarding the future of Kirkuk affects the security and stability of Iraq and such an attempt also affects the social and economic aspects.”
Iraqi Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi described raising the Kurdish flag next to the Iraqi flag as a violation of national unity and the spirit of cooperation and understanding between the components of the province. He noted in a statement, “It is unacceptable to impose the will of one component or one party over everyone else.”
For Kirkuk to pose such an issue at this time may be a prelude to a bigger issue, that of determining the fate of this city. The Arab-Kurdish, Kurdish-Turkmen and Arab-Turkmen power struggle there is anxiously waiting for such issues to erupt and ultimately force conflicting parties to show their cards to the public.
In a nutshell, the federal government in Baghdad can, along with the Iraqi parliament, summon the governor of Kirkuk and question him about the purpose of raising the Kurdish flag next to the Iraqi one, and since Karim works under the central government, Baghdad is expected to have a say in taking the flag down.
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