The Kirkuk Provincial Council has met on Tuesday to discuss the Iraqi parliament’s decision for the removal of the Kurdistan flag on state buildings in Kirkuk and a referendum on the issue of uniting the region with the Kurdistan Region.

26 out of the 41 members of Kirkuk Provincial Council were present at Tuesday's meeting which was not attended by Turkmen and Arab members.

The council members refused to abide by the Iraqi Parliament's decision to haul down the Kurdistan Flag with 26 votes, and agreed on holding a referendum with regard to uniting the region with the Kurdistan Region with 21 votes.

The Kirkuk Provincial Council has 26 Kurdish members, 9 Turkmen members and 6 Arab members.

On April 1, the Iraqi Parliament rejected with 168 votes the Kirkuk Provincial Council's March 28-dated decision for flying the Kurdistan flag alongside the Iraqi flag over local government buildings. The Kurdish deputies in the Iraqi Parliament boycotted the session.

According to Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution made in 2005, the status of Kirkuk was set to be determined with a referendum to be held in 2007, which was, however, not realized.