ERBIL — Kurdistan Region Minister of State for Minority Affairs Aidan Maroof announced on Thursday that there is an active request to restore the removed quota seats for minorities.

Maroof, who also heads the Turkmen Front in the Kurdistan Region, addressed reporters following a meeting that included political representatives and civil society organizations from the Chaldean, Turkmen, Syrian, and Assyrian communities.

"We have emphasized in the past that the last five ethnic groups in the Kurdistan Region are small. The division of these last five on the basis of geography is wrong and the division is more political," Maroof stated.

He reiterated the need for timely Kurdistan parliamentary elections and the importance of inclusive participation by all parties, including minority communities. Maroof criticized the current allocation of seats, calling for an increase to 11 seats to better represent the diverse communities.

In February, the Iraqi federal court restructured the Kurdistan Region into four constituencies for future elections, reducing parliament seats from 111 to 100. This included 34 seats for Erbil, 38 seats for Sulaimaniyah, 25 seats for Duhok, and 3 seats for Halabja. The ruling faced strong opposition from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and minority groups.

In late May, the Election Judicial Board (IEB) directed Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) to allocate five seats in the Kurdistan Region’s parliament to various communities. This decision, issued on May 20th, responded to complaints about inadequate measures to protect community representation rights.

Maroof criticized the judiciary board's decision as political, stating that reducing the seats to five undermines the dignity of the Kurdistan Region.

Azad Kurachi, a Turkmen politician and MP in the Kurdistan Parliament, welcomed the return of community seats but criticized their distribution among provinces as unjust. "Two seats have been allocated for Turkmens and Christians in Sulaimaniyah and two seats for Turkmens in Erbil, whereas in reality, 90% of the Turkmen live in Erbil and less than 10% in Sulaimaniyah," Kurachi explained.