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No retreat by Barzani over Kurdistan flag
12.9.2006 |
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Newsdesk,
September 12, -- Massoud Barzani, President of
Kurdistan region (Iraq) has sent a letter to the
speaker of the Iraqi parliament saying they would
not bow to pressure over flying the "Kurdistan flag"
in Kurdistan region (northern Iraq) instead of the
Iraqi national flag, reported the Dogan News Agency
(DHA) on Saturday.
In the letter, addressed to Mahmoud Meshadani,
Barzani said the Iraqi parliament should discuss the
flag issue and seek the solution under Article 12 of
the Iraqi Constitution, DHA said.
He also claimed that some circles against Iraq's
political project had adopted a threatening stance
toward the Kurds under the pretext of the flag. "The
Kurdish people will bow to nobody," Barzani
reportedly said in the letter. |
 
Massoud Barzani, President of Kurdistan
Region in Iraq |
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Barzani's decision to ban the Iraqi flag as of Sept.
1 sparked a controversy in Iraq, with the country's
Sunni leaders criticizing the move and Barzani
responding with a threat of secession.
The Iraqi Constitution provides for a new flag and
national anthem, but parliament has been addressing
more urgent legislation and has yet to discuss that
provision. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
ordered that all government offices continue flying
the Saddam-era flag until parliament comes up with a
new one.
Last week, a mini poll by AKI news agency showed
that Barzani's flag decree welcomed by all Kurds in
Kurdistan region (northern Iraq), Hoshiar
Abed-Allah, 40, said the decision represented a
challenge to the new Iraqi government. "We back
president Barazani all the way on this courageous
decision to reject this disgusting flag , under
which the ugliest genocides against our people were
carried out. we do not want an Iraqi flag in our
Kurdistan even if it were the flag of the republic
of Abed Alkareem Kaseem, because we do not want to
live under the Iraq that made us go through
tragedies and horror".
Nader 37, said "I want to see it flying high as the
flag of an independent [Kurdish] state above the
United Nations headquarters in New York....and I
think that day is near at hand".
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül earlier said the Iraqi
government had to take action against the order
given by Barzani, which was interpreted by many as a
symbolic step toward the separation of the Kurdistan
region from the rest of the country.
“Those who are doing this must see how dangerous
this course is,” he said. “If Iraq is willing to
accept a flag that is not its own to fly in its own
territory, it's over.”
Turkey, which shares a border with Kurdistan region
of Iraq, is wary of any separatist moves among Iraqi
Kurds and insists Iraq's territorial integrity must
be protected. The Kurds have gradually been carving
out more autonomy in the Kurdistan region of
(northern Iraq), however, as sectarian divisions
elsewhere threaten to split the country.
turkishdailynews com.tr | DHA | AKI
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