CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITION OF THE KURDISH LANGUAGE IN IRAQ BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE (AN ANALYTICAL STUDY)

The Republic of Iraq is a multi-ethnic federal state, and the Kurdish language is one of the main constitutional languages ​​of its ethnic components. This language has its own rules, roots and history, but at most stages and different times, the official authorities in the country ignored this language or did not pay sufficient attention to it through formulating the legal procedures for determining the official language. Since the issuance of the Basic Law of 1925, the policy of one official language has been followed at the national level, which was the Arabic language, while taking into account ethnic and linguistic diversity at a lower and narrower level. The recognition of the Kurdish language as an official language in Iraq was a sensitive political issue. At some stages it was recognized indirectly within the framework of national rights, and at other stages directly but only in areas inhabited by Kurds and the Kurdistan Region. However, with the establishment of the federal system, especially after the issuance of the 2005 Constitution, the Kurdish language, along with the Arabic language, became an official language throughout the Republic of Iraq, and it was an important step to strengthen a constitutional right for an ethnic component in Iraq. To ensure the consolidation of constitutional recognition of the Kurdish language, some legal and practical texts and procedures were put in place, while on the practice, it faced many obstacles and was not implemented as required, so that the imposition and use of the Arabic language appears clearly through the actions and dealings of the federal authorities throughout Iraq, and this violates the principles of the current Iraqi Constitution, and is considered a return to the pre-federal period.