PUK gives Iraq a 19th province

Kurdistan 11:38 PM - 2023-01-04

Serving Halabja is among the priorities of the PUK in Baghdad.

One of the objectives the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) made in its work program to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani was to serve Halabja and finish the legal procedures to make it an independent governorate, and the governor of Halabja appreciates this effort.

In a meeting with PUK President Bafel Jalal Talabani, al-Sudani stated: "We must provide more services to the people of Halabja since they are the most victimized Iraqi citizens who have been oppressed by the former Iraqi regime."

Chro Hama Sharif, a PUK bloc member in the Iraqi parliament, informed PUKMEDIA that the PUK is making serious attempts to finish the legislative requirements for Halabja to become a governorate.

She also said that several of the agenda's objectives had already been carried out when they were presented to Sudani's cabinet, and this issue was likely to follow suit soon.

"We appreciate the ongoing efforts of Bafel Jalal Talabani, President of the PUK, to finish the procedures for the governorship of Halabja since the implementation of this decision is crucial for Halabja," said Halabja Governor Azad Tofiq to PUKMEDIA.

"Halabja fits the criteria to become a governorate, and we hope that it will be carried out soon since many of the points on the agenda that was provided to the Sudani's cabinet have been carried out," he added

The work plan that the PUK provided to Sudani's government is entirely in the best interests of the people of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq as a whole. It also puts a lot of effort into resolving unresolved conflicts between the region and Baghdad, such as concluding legal processes to make Halabja the 19th governorate in Iraq in order to expand its services and make up for the damage it suffered, which is one of the top priorities of PUK in Baghdad.

On March 13, 2014, the Kurdistan Regional Government made the decision to convert Halabja from a district of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate to a separate governorate, along with the other three in the region. The Kurdistan Parliament then unanimously accepted the decision just three days later, on the anniversary of the chemical attack on March 16, 1988. Halabja was designated as the country's 19th province by the Iraqi Council of Ministers in the same year.


Translated and edited by Besha Jawhar
PUKMEDIA