07-07-2025
KRG pushes back against Qara Tapa upgrade
Shafaq News - Diyala
The federal plan to upgrade Qara Tapa from a sub-district to a district and include Koks within its boundaries is political and unconstitutional, the Kurdistan Region's Garmian Administration stated on Monday.
'Koks is part of the Kurdistan Region and was formally integrated after 2003 through official regional procedures,' the administration stated. 'Any attempt to detach it from Garmian constitutes a legal violation and will not be accepted.'
Residents of Koks, regardless of ethnic or sectarian background, reject the proposal and insist on remaining under Kurdistan's administrative and political jurisdiction, the statement added.
The Garmian Administration affirmed it will pursue all legal and political measures to block the plan and preserve Koks' current status.
Earlier, Iraqi lawmaker Karwan Yarwais described the Planning Ministry's move as a direct breach of Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, which governs the resolution of disputed territories between Baghdad and Erbil. 'Altering administrative boundaries without resolving Article 140 reflects a return to the Arabization tactics of former regimes," he told Shafaq News.
On July 2, Iraq's Ministry of Planning confirmed that Deputy Prime Minister and Planning Minister Mohammed Ali Tamim had approved the creation of the Qara Tapa district, encompassing the Jabara (21092) and Koks (21093) sub-districts under a new national administrative designation.
