15 October 2005

Iraq's 2005 constitution recognises the Kurdistan Region

Iraq's new federal constitution recognises the Kurdistan Region and makes Kurdish an official language of Iraq.

Iraq's Constitution of 2005 — Constitute Project
The Kurdish Quasi-State: Development and Dependency in Post-Gulf War Iraq — Denise Natali, Syracuse University Press (2010)

Well established self-rulestatehood

After the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Kurdish parties were among the strongest players in the new Iraq. The constitution approved by referendum on 15 October 2005 made Iraq a federal state, recognised the Kurdistan Region and its institutions, and made Kurdish an official language alongside Arabic.

Iraq's Constitution of 2005 — Constitute Project
The Kurdish Quasi-State: Development and Dependency in Post-Gulf War Iraq — Denise Natali, Syracuse University Press (2010)

Article 140 promised to settle the status of Kirkuk and other disputed territories by a referendum, but it was never held.

Iraq's Constitution of 2005 — Constitute Project
The Kurdish Quasi-State: Development and Dependency in Post-Gulf War Iraq — Denise Natali, Syracuse University Press (2010)

In 2005 the PUK’s Jalal Talabani became Iraq’s first Kurdish president, and by convention the presidency has gone to a Kurd since.

Historical Dictionary of the Kurds — Michael M. Gunter, Scarecrow Press (2011)

Why it matters today

Kurds

It is the legal foundation of Kurdish self-rule in Iraq, but its unfulfilled promises on Kirkuk and on oil revenues still drive disputes between Erbil and Baghdad.