Iraq's Kirkuk to add Turkish language to city’s official languages

Turkish along with Turkmen, Arabic, Kurdish to be official languages in Kirkuk

By Anadolu staff

KERKUK, Iraq (AA) - The Kirkuk Governorship in Iraq announced Thursday a decision to again use Turkish as an official language in official correspondence.

It said the Turkish language will also be included in letterheads and seals of official institutions.

“The use of the Turkish language in Kirkuk is a constitutional right,” Mervan al-Ani, an official from the Kirkuk provincial governor's office, told Anadolu.

Chairman of the Turkmen Group in the Iraqi Parliament Ersat Salihi urged the “using the Turkish language, the mother tongue of the Turkmens, in official institution signs, correspondences, and seals,” in a letter sent Sept. 11 to Rakan al-Jabouri, the governor of Kirkuk.

Arabic and Kurdish are the two official languages of Iraq, according to the Constitution.

But Turkish and Syriac are considered official languages in administrative areas where they constitute a density of population.

*Writing By Ikram Kouachi

Kaynak: