Is Kirkuk under Kurdish control?

On 16 October 2017, the Iraqi national army and PMF militia retook control of Kirkuk as the Kurdish Peshmerga forces fled the city without fighting. Kirkuk has been a disputed territory for around eighty years.

What is special about Kirkuk?

Kirkuk is known for its rich oil reserves, producing almost half of Iraq’s daily exports, and has been one of the most highly disputed areas between the Kurdish people and the Iraqi government in Baghdad.

How many Kurds live in Kirkuk?

From the end of the Gulf War to 1999, about 11,000 Kurdish families were deported from Kirkuk. Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, 100,000 Kurds have returned to the city of Kirkuk….Statistics.

Mother tongue Kurdish
1947 (Ethnicity) 151,575
Percentage 53%
1957 187,593
Percentage 48%

Is Kirkuk Iraq or Kurdistan?

Kirkūk, city, capital of Kirkūk muḥāfaẓah (governorate), northeastern Iraq. The city is 145 miles (233 km) north of Baghdad, the national capital, with which it is linked by road and railway. Kirkūk is located near the foot of the Zagros Mountains in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

Who controls Kirkuk now?

The U.S transfers responsibility for security in Kirkuk to the Iraqi army, except for Kirkuk city and Hawija district. The country plunges into sectarian strife and two years of instability follow.

What language is spoken in Kirkuk?

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Kirkuk province has officially decided that alongside Arabic language, Kurdish should also be used in letters being issued by the city’s apparatus and the Kurdish flag has to be flown across the city’s governmental institutions.

Who controls Kirkuk?

the Iraqi army
The U.S transfers responsibility for security in Kirkuk to the Iraqi army, except for Kirkuk city and Hawija district. The country plunges into sectarian strife and two years of instability follow.

Who built Kirkuk?

Some historians believe that Gutians were the ones who built the Citadel, based on an old cuneiform tablet, and it can be said that this high settlement, now called Kirkuk Citadel, was famous since the middle of the second millennium BC as “Citadel of the city of Beni Shilwa”, while other historians believe that this …

Is Kirkuk a contested area?

Federal forces now patrol Kirkuk, the diverse, oil-rich province disputed between the central and Kurdish regional governments.