Army intervenes in Kirkuk after flag dispute

Shafaq News – Kirkuk

A clash broke out in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, on Friday after rival political groups raised party flags, prompting intervention by the Iraqi army to restore order.

A local source told Shafaq News that a verbal dispute erupted between supporters of a Turkmen party and a group of Kurdish youths in the Tiseen neighborhood after both sides raised party flags in the same location, escalating later into a fistfight.

Meanwhile, Kirkuk Provincial Council member, Ahmet Koprulu, said a police officer fired shots toward a group of youths celebrating in the town, calling on the public to “exercise restraint and avoid further tension.”

Kirkuk — one of Iraq’s most diverse and contested provinces — will be a key battleground in the November 11 parliamentary elections, where Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen parties are competing fiercely for influence. The oil-rich province will elect 13 lawmakers, including one seat reserved for the Christian community. In 2021, Kurdish parties won six seats, Arab alliances four, and Turkmen factions two.

This year, 252 candidates, including 73 women, are running for the province’s seats. Kurdish parties are contesting on a unified list, while Arab and Turkmen blocs remain divided, intensifying competition in a region still marked by political and security disputes since federal forces retook control from the Kurdistan Region in 2017 following the independence referendum.