ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kirkuk governor Rebwar Taha on Monday said that they will resolve recently resurfaced land disputes between Kurdish farmers and Arab settlers “according to the law,” and expressed support for passing the land restitution bill in the Iraqi parliament.
On Saturday, Kurdish farmers in Kirkuk’s Sargaran accused Arab settlers of preventing them from working their land, months after the farmers were blocked from harvesting their crops and Baghdad was forced to intervene.
“We want to solve the problem in that area … in a way that the law is implemented,” Taha said adding, “We will side with who has the right according to the law.”
“This issue … is a chronic disease,” he emphasized.
Disputes between Arab settlers and Kurdish farmers date back to the Baathist era. Land in several villages was taken away from Kurdish farmers by the Iraqi government in 1975 on the grounds that they were located in prohibited oil zones. Two years later, under Decree No. 949 issued by the Baath Supreme Revolutionary Court, the land was given to Arabs who were resettled in the area from elsewhere in Iraq.
A bill drafted by Kurdish lawmakers seeking to return lands that were confiscated under the Baath regime to their original Kurdish and Turkmen owners is currently in the Iraqi parliament. It is one of three major pieces of legislation that are expected to be voted on soon.
“We were awaiting the Iraqi parliament for the bill to be voted on. Unfortunately, there are obstacles until now and it has not been voted on,” the governor said, assuring that the passing of the bill would benefit “all the [ethnic] components of Kirkuk.”
Taha said the bill does not only pertain to farmers' issues but also creates administrative obstacles, preventing them from rolling out service initiatives “as much as it is needed.”
In May, heightened tensions between Kurdish farmers and Arab settlers reached a boiling point near the village of Palkana after the settlers prevented farmers from harvesting their crops, citing ownership documents for the land that date back to the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein.
This forced the Iraqi government to send a delegation to the village to resolve the issue, allowing Kurdish farmers to harvest their crops.
Kirkuk, along with other disputed territories in Diyala, Nineveh, and Salahaddin, has a diverse population and was subject to Arabization policies under Saddam Hussein’s rule, where Kurdish inhabitants were displaced and their lands given to Arab settlers. Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution outlines a process for resolving disputes over these territories. It begins with compensation for Arab settlers and the return of lands to displaced Kurdish landowners.
The article has not been implemented, however, and land disputes still exist.
