The decision of Iraq’s Kirkuk province to join the "Union of Municipalities of the Turkic World" (TDBB) has sparked debate among Iraqi politicians, Shafaq News reports.

Some local officials believe that participation in the organization could open up new opportunities for investment and development, while others are demanding greater clarity regarding the agreements reached during Kirkuk Governor Mohammed Seman Agha’s visit to Turkey.

The province’s accession to TDBB was announced after the governor’s trip to Ankara. The Union of Municipalities of the Turkic World brings together local government bodies from Turkic-speaking countries and regions and works on developing joint projects in infrastructure, urban planning, environmental protection, tourism, culture, training, and investment.

Nashat Shahwaiz, deputy chairman of the Kirkuk Provincial Council, said that the council has not yet received details of the agreements reached in Ankara and cannot assess their implications until it reviews the terms of the agreements.

At the same time, he noted that he supports any initiatives capable of attracting foreign investment and creating jobs, provided their goals and obligations are clearly defined. Shahwaiz called on the governor to present the results of the talks after his return.

Raad Saleh, head of the Provincial Council’s Committee on Finance, Economy, Trade, and Investment, also said that the governor’s visit was part of official efforts to expand cooperation with Turkey in various fields.

“The main criterion is not the signing of agreements, but their implementation in practice and their transformation into projects that serve the interests of the province,” Saleh said, adding that elected representatives would review the outcomes of the visit within the framework of their oversight powers.

At the same time, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) linked this step to the unresolved issue of Kirkuk’s constitutional status. Party representative Kawa Ahmed Fattalah said that the future of the province and its administrative boundaries must be determined exclusively within the framework of Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution.

This article provides for a process of normalization, a population census, and a subsequent referendum on whether the province should become part of the Kurdistan Region or remain under the authority of the federal government in Baghdad.

Fattalah said that the consequences of the Arabization policies carried out under the former Baathist regime, including land confiscation, forced displacement, and the Anfal campaign against the Kurds, remain unresolved issues that must be addressed through constitutional and legal mechanisms.

“Decisions regarding Kirkuk made outside the province and without regard for the will of its residents will not lead to stability,” the KDP representative said. He also called for the restoration of the rights of displaced communities and for the province’s administrative boundaries to be returned to their pre-1970s state.

Kirkuk remains one of Iraq’s most ethnopolitically contested provinces. According to the 2024 census, about 1.9 million people live there. The population includes Kurds, Turkmens, Arabs, Chaldeans, Assyrians, and other communities.

Kurdish political forces advocate implementing Article 140 as the constitutional mechanism for determining Kirkuk’s status. Turkmen organizations consider the province the historic center of their community, while many Arab political forces oppose the possible incorporation of Kirkuk into the Kurdistan Region.