ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Representatives of minority groups in the Kurdistan Region gathered in Erbil on Thursday, unanimously demanding active participation in the government, as the political parties started the next cabinet formation talks. 

They also requested that their seats be increased from five to 15 in the Kurdish legislature. 

“Today, we had a consultative meeting with the ethnic and religious minorities. The meeting was held at a time as the new cabinet formation talks have begun,” Aydin Maruf, the Minister of State for Minority Affairs and politburo member of the Turkmen Front, told The New Region. "The minority groups, notably Turkmen and Christians must be actively get involved in the government." 

“We must be dealt with as a nation. This is a sentiment that all the ethnic and religious groups share,” he detailed. 

Maruf, a prominent Turkmen official in the Kurdistan Region, added that the number of seats “should not become a basis for the minorities' share in the government” since “injustice was done” against them after a top court in Baghdad decided to decrease the number of their seats from 11 to five.

After months of wranglings and a two-year delay, the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections were held on October 20. The vote this time was like no other before, due to significant changes made to the electoral process. 

Prior to the vote, the Supreme Court in Iraq dismantled the 11 seats reserved for minorities, reducing seats in the legislature from 111 to 100, a decision that triggered widespread anger among Turkmen and Christian minorities.

The Kurdistan Region’s newly-elected members of parliament were sworn in on Monday, officially commencing their legislative duties over a month after parliamentary elections were held.