ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Iraqi government’s Agriculture Ministry has cancelled an earlier decree related to land leases issued in Kirkuk, with a Kurdish MP claiming the move opens the door to a new wave of confiscation of lands amid fears of Arabization and a return of Baathists to the disputed territory.
During the Baathist era, the Iraqi regime had an official policy of granting leases of agricultural lands in disputed areas to pro-Baathists, particularly Sunni Arabs relocated to Kirkuk in a bid to change the demography of the ethnically diverse province.
After the fall of Saddam Hussein and the drafting of the constitution that includes Article 140 to resolve the issue of the disputed areas, lands in Kirkuk were returned to their original Kurdish and Turkmen owners.
This was done under a decree by the Iraqi government on February 8, 2012 that revoked all the Baathist regime decrees related to agricultural leases in Kirkuk and the disputed areas, restoring them to their rightful owners.
After the events of October 16, when the Peshmerga left Kirkuk and the disputed areas were brought under federal control, fears were raised about a new wave of Arabization.
In an attempt to stop this, a Kurdish MP in Baghdad raised the alarm and called on the Agriculture Ministry to suspend administrative activities and transactions with respect to the disputed lands until the issue could be resolved in a legal way, in line with the constitution.
The ministry responded to Shakawan Abdulla’s call, issuing a decree on February 5, 2018 to stop legal and administrative work on the agricultural lands of Kirkuk.
Abdulla told Rudaw at the time that he was assured by the minister that any transactions related to disputed lands would be halted and no one could take the lands from their rightful owners. A letter, bearing the signature of Mohammed Jasim, general director of the Iraqi Agriculture Ministry, detailing this decision had been sent to relevant parties in Kirkuk.
Abdullah told Rudaw English on Friday that the Iraqi Agriculture Ministry decision was made on his call to stop lands “being confiscated by Baathist Arabs” in the wake of October 16.
From a legal perspective, he added, the Iraqi government cannot return these lands to the Baathists.
A source from the Kirkuk Agriculture Department, however, told Rudaw that a few days after the letter arrived in their office, the current Kirkuk Agriculture Department head visited Baghdad to request they cancel the decision.
A new decision has now been made, revoking not only that decree but all government decisions related to disputed agricultural lands by post-Baathist Baghdad.
A March 1, 2018 letter, received by the Kirkuk Agriculture Department, cancelled all agricultural decrees, including those of February 5, 2018 and February 8, 2012, in Shwan, Dubiz, Qara Hanjir, and some other areas of Kirkuk.
Abdulla said this latest decree paves the way for pro-Baathists to “confiscate” the lands again.
“If the government does not resolve this issue in a legal way, social problems will start in the region,” he warned.
“Those Arabs who had been relocated by the Baathist regime during the 1980s up to before 2003, giving them each [10 acres] of land owned by Kurds and Turkmen, and fled after 2003, have now been trying to return to Kirkuk and once again confiscate land,” Abdulla said.
He warned that this newly decision should not be implemented, because it will “free the hands of the Baathists” to return to Kirkuk.
He said the issue again emerged after “a number of Baathist sympathizers in Baghdad asked for their old leases to be renewed.”
“I am calling on them to give up on such acts.”
During the Baathist era, the Iraqi regime had an official policy of granting leases of agricultural lands in disputed areas to pro-Baathists, particularly Sunni Arabs relocated to Kirkuk in a bid to change the demography of the ethnically diverse province.
After the fall of Saddam Hussein and the drafting of the constitution that includes Article 140 to resolve the issue of the disputed areas, lands in Kirkuk were returned to their original Kurdish and Turkmen owners.
This was done under a decree by the Iraqi government on February 8, 2012 that revoked all the Baathist regime decrees related to agricultural leases in Kirkuk and the disputed areas, restoring them to their rightful owners.
After the events of October 16, when the Peshmerga left Kirkuk and the disputed areas were brought under federal control, fears were raised about a new wave of Arabization.
In an attempt to stop this, a Kurdish MP in Baghdad raised the alarm and called on the Agriculture Ministry to suspend administrative activities and transactions with respect to the disputed lands until the issue could be resolved in a legal way, in line with the constitution.
The ministry responded to Shakawan Abdulla’s call, issuing a decree on February 5, 2018 to stop legal and administrative work on the agricultural lands of Kirkuk.
Abdulla told Rudaw at the time that he was assured by the minister that any transactions related to disputed lands would be halted and no one could take the lands from their rightful owners. A letter, bearing the signature of Mohammed Jasim, general director of the Iraqi Agriculture Ministry, detailing this decision had been sent to relevant parties in Kirkuk.
Abdullah told Rudaw English on Friday that the Iraqi Agriculture Ministry decision was made on his call to stop lands “being confiscated by Baathist Arabs” in the wake of October 16.
From a legal perspective, he added, the Iraqi government cannot return these lands to the Baathists.
A source from the Kirkuk Agriculture Department, however, told Rudaw that a few days after the letter arrived in their office, the current Kirkuk Agriculture Department head visited Baghdad to request they cancel the decision.
A new decision has now been made, revoking not only that decree but all government decisions related to disputed agricultural lands by post-Baathist Baghdad.
A March 1, 2018 letter, received by the Kirkuk Agriculture Department, cancelled all agricultural decrees, including those of February 5, 2018 and February 8, 2012, in Shwan, Dubiz, Qara Hanjir, and some other areas of Kirkuk.
Abdulla said this latest decree paves the way for pro-Baathists to “confiscate” the lands again.
“If the government does not resolve this issue in a legal way, social problems will start in the region,” he warned.
“Those Arabs who had been relocated by the Baathist regime during the 1980s up to before 2003, giving them each [10 acres] of land owned by Kurds and Turkmen, and fled after 2003, have now been trying to return to Kirkuk and once again confiscate land,” Abdulla said.
He warned that this newly decision should not be implemented, because it will “free the hands of the Baathists” to return to Kirkuk.
He said the issue again emerged after “a number of Baathist sympathizers in Baghdad asked for their old leases to be renewed.”
“I am calling on them to give up on such acts.”
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