The Turkman language will carry official status in Kirkuk city on Dec. 23, the Turkish Cihan information agency reported.
Efforts of the Kirkuk Regional Assembly's members of Turkman origin played an important role in gaining official status of the Turkman language. Turkmans sought to accept the Turkman language as an official language, besides the Kurdish and Arabian language within a long period of time. Turkmans' demand based on the Iraqi Constitution. Although the Iraqi Constitutional Court and President Jalal Talabani made this decision, so far Kurdish members of the regional assembly have hindered, Hasan Turan, a Turkman member of the Kirkuk Regional Assembly, told Cihan. The Assembly decided to give an official status to the Turkman language after joint agreement signed amongst the Kurdish, Arabian and Turkman sides on Dec. 21.
