Mam Jalal Talabani’s Historical Plea before the Iraqi Governing Council

On February 9, 2004, President Mam Jalal Talabani, Secretary-General of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, delivered an important and historic speech at a meeting of the Iraqi Governing Council. In this speech, he defended the rights of the people of Kurdistan, emphasizing the necessity for the Transitional Governing Council to recognize the federal status of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and to work toward normalizing the situation in the former Kirkuk Governorate.

During the meeting, President Talabani read a paragraph from the resolutions of a League of Nations committee, which stated that “the borders of Iraq never extend beyond the Hamrin Mountains, and the areas located beyond the Hamrin Mountains are part of Kurdistan.” He supported his argument by presenting a historical map of the Ottoman Empire, which he placed on the meeting table, and publicly declared that the city of Kirkuk is a Kurdish city.

Thus, through the language of diplomacy and documentary evidence, President Mam Jalal demonstrated the “Kurdistani identity of Kirkuk” to the members of the Iraqi Governing Council, as well as to both allies and opponents.

In his historic defense, President Mam Jalal also asserted that it is the legitimate right of the Kurdish people for the Kurdish language to be recognized as an official language of the country alongside Arabic, for the policies of Arabization and national assimilation to end, and for Kurds and Turkmen to be returned to their rightful places.