LAST NEWS ABOUT KIRKUK/ KURDISTAN

[Anthea]

Who built Kirkuki and what language is its name?
By: Kurzanin

The city of Kirkuk, previously known as "Arafa", is one of the oldest cities in the world from the time of Obaid until now, people live in it.

Placement and scriptural evidence indicates that Arafa existed in the third century, and during that time the Hori and Gutt nations reside, later occupied by the Emperor of the Akadi.
At the end of the Third Third P.Z, Arafa appeared in the AKDI and Sumari texts, which reflected his collusion with the AKADI empire during the era of rulers such as Sargon and Naram-Sin.

In the era of KDPs and Sasani, it was known as "Karkha D-Bet Garmay" meaning "Khaki Garmay Castle", where Karkha from Kurdish ethnic group of Kurdish people of Kurdistan/Sasani to a Qalaband city. After the Arabic fetus, the word Karkha was a poem for Kirkuk-Kirkuk, which kept the feelings of the old castle.

Language and historical development: Arafa ← Karkha ← Kirkuk, shows the continuous residence and the permanent existence of the people of the mountain areas. While the city has gone through many empires, the inhabitants of Obaid, Hori, Guti and later the Kurdish generations, their role as a main place of Zagroz civilization and Kurdish originality.

[Anthea]

Kirkuk's Hawar Theater Brings Story of
Kurdish Genocide to International Stage

Erbil (Kurdistan 24) – The Hawar Theater Group from Kirkuk represented the Kurdistan Region at the Amman International Theater Festival with the monodrama “Salma,” delivering a performance centered on the tragedies of Halabja, the Kurdish genocide, the Anfal campaign, and the forced displacement of Kurdish communities

The festival, which opened on November 24 and runs for seven days, features productions from 18 countries. “Salma” is the only entry from the Kurdistan Region. Directed by Nezhad Najm, the play draws deeply from the collective memory of Kurdish suffering and resilience.

Speaking to Kurdistan24 on Thursday, director Nezhad Najm explained that this round’s performance was staged in both Kurdish and Arabic. The monodrama featured Kurdish actor Hawar Fares alongside Amna Abdullah, an actor from Tunisia, forming a bi-national cast tailored for an international Arab audience.

“We delivered the performance successfully and received a very warm reception from the organizers,” Najm said, expressing hope for winning an award at this year’s festival.

Najm emphasized that the monodrama has already been performed in 15 countries and is a joint artistic project between Kurdistan and France. Its narrative focuses on the Halabja chemical attack, the Kurdish genocide, the Anfal campaign, and the mass displacement of Kurdish people. Although the play was originally prepared in Kurdish and English, this edition was adapted into Kurdish and Arabic to suit the festival’s host country.

“Salma” was written by Dilshad Mustafa, with scenography and direction by Nezhad Najm. The production has been staged in 16 countries and has earned multiple international awards throughout its artistic journey.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/87 ... onal-stage

[Anthea]

Kirkuk Census Irregularities

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The General Board of the Kurdistani Areas Outside the Region's Administration issued a grave warning on Saturday regarding the integrity of the recently announced Iraqi general census results, accusing the federal government of reneging on critical agreements intended to protect the demographic identity of Kirkuk and other disputed territories

In a strongly worded statement released on Saturday, the Board declared that the failure to adhere to the 1957 census as a baseline for determining the legitimate population of these areas constitutes a direct violation of Article 140 of the constitution and poses a serious danger to the Kurdistani identity of the region.

The controversy stems from the official announcement of the general census results by the Iraqi Ministry of Planning on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. While the census was intended to be a developmental tool, it has reignited deep-seated political tensions regarding the demographic makeup of the disputed territories.

The General Board's statement highlighted that a specific, joint decision had been reached between the Federal Iraqi Government’s Ministry of Planning and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) prior to the count.

This agreement explicitly stipulated that for Kirkuk and other Kurdistani areas outside the KRG's administration, the 1957 census would serve as the sole legitimate basis for registration, ensuring that demographic engineering campaigns from previous eras would not be legitimized by the new data

To operationalize this agreement, the Iraqi Council of Ministers had taken a decisive step during its regular meeting on Nov. 5, 2024. The Council mandated that before any results were announced, the files of citizens who had relocated from central and southern Iraq to Kirkuk—demographics often referred to as "imported" populations or settlers (Arab Thieves)—must be segregated and returned to their original provinces of registration.

This measure was designed to ensure that those who are not part of the indigenous population recorded in 1957 would not be counted as permanent residents of Kirkuk, thereby preserving the historical demographic balance of the province.

However, the General Board expressed profound disappointment and alarm in its Saturday statement, asserting that there is "no kind of commitment to this decision" visible in the actions of the federal authorities.

The Board views this lack of compliance not merely as a procedural oversight, but as a deliberate and "serious danger" to the future of the disputed territories.

By failing to filter the census data as agreed, the federal government is accused of acting contrary to the general principles of Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, which outlines the roadmap for normalizing the status of Kirkuk and other disputed areas.

The Board noted that this "dangerous development" has unfortunately vindicated their previous concerns regarding the potential politicization of the census process.

In a direct challenge to the federal authorities, the General Board issued an ultimatum.

The statement announced that unless a "necessary and convincing clarification" is provided by Baghdad to the Kurdistan Regional Government regarding these violations, the existing constitutional conflicts will be transferred to a "more difficult stage."

This language suggests a potential freeze in cooperation or a significant hardening of the KRG's stance in future negotiations with Baghdad.

The Board made it unequivocally clear that any attempt to tamper with or forcibly change the identity and demography of Kirkuk, Khanaqin, Sinjar, and other Kurdistani areas is "in no way acceptable" and will be met with staunch resistance.

Concluding its statement, the General Board appealed for internal unity within the Kurdistan Region. It emphasized that the threat to the disputed territories transcends local political rivalries.

The Board called upon the KRG and all Kurdish political parties to set aside their internal conflicts and treat this situation with the utmost seriousness.

The statement stressed that the collective priority must be the protection of the Kurdistani identity of Kirkuk and all territories defined under Article 140, framing the issue as an existential struggle for the integrity of the Kurdish homeland.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/87 ... al-dispute