Kurdistan Region to close public offices July 14 despite federal delisting of holiday

ERBIL — The Kurdistan Regional Government announced that all official institutions in the Kurdistan Region will observe a public holiday on Monday, July 14, commemorating the anniversary of the 1958 revolution that overthrew Iraq’s monarchy.

According to a statement from the regional government, work will resume on Tuesday.

The July 14, 1958 revolution, led by Abdul Karim Qasim, ended the Hashemite monarchy and ushered in Iraq’s first republic. Qasim’s forces, fueled by discontent over the monarchy’s pro-Western alignment, took control of Baghdad and deposed King Faisal II. The date was recognized as a national holiday in Iraq for decades.

Qasim himself was overthrown in a 1963 coup led by the Ba’ath Party with military support.

Though celebrated by some as a revolution, the 1958 uprising remains controversial among Iraqis, with critics viewing it as a violent coup.

On May 22, Iraq’s parliament passed a new public holiday law, published in the official gazette on May 29, that revised the national holiday calendar. The updated legislation removed several longstanding commemorations, including July 14, which is no longer observed nationwide.

Despite its exclusion from the federal calendar, the Kurdistan Region has opted to retain the date as a regional holiday.