Jan 09, 2014

Iraqi Turkmen: Recognition of Three More Languages


Turkmen, Syriac and Assyrian have become official languages of Iraq, potentially contributing to its democratization.

Below is an article by World Bulletin:

Turkmen, Syriac and Assyrian were recognized as official languages in Iraq, bringing the number of official languages in the country to five after Arabic and Kurdish.

The Iraqi National Assembly has voted in favor of the amendment, which allows Turkmen, Syriac and Assyrian minorities to use their languages in their conducts in the regions where they constitute the majority of the population.

According to the new regulation, Kurdish will be used in all governmental conducts and official correspondences as well as scripts on money and passports.

The new measures came out after an appeal by deputies of the related minorities and were voted on Wednesday [8th January 2014].

Iraqi parliament’s Culture and Media Committee chairman Ali al-Shelah said the amendments will contribute to the democratization of Iraq.

A Turkmen member of Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Administrations Assembly, Muhammed Ilhanli said the new regulations are a good step but unfair to other minorities as their languages would not be credited as much as Kurdish.

According to the Iraq's constitution Kurdish is the second official language after Arabic, however, it had not been used in official correspondences until the recent changes.