"Today around 20-25 Arab settlers, backed by the Iraqi Army, came to Sargaran area carrying a list containing the name of 17 villages in the region and to halt the work of combines," Badradin Shamsaldin, a member of the Sargaran Township Council, told Rudaw by telephone.
Some 16 predominately-Kurdish areas have stopped their harvests: Palkana, Sarbashakh, Shanagha, Darband, Jastan, Tel Halala, Jesuma, Chard, Gabalaka, Kharaba, Quch, Sarelu, Liheban, Sargaran, Dawood Gurga, and Sequchan.
Sargaran town is in Dibis, west of Kirkuk city. Despite the declared defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2017, the town and its surrounding villages and areas have been a hotbed for the extremist group’s lingering, deadly remnants.
Mariwan Nadir, a member of the Iraqi Parliament from Kirkuk Province, said they are attempting to resolve the land dispute between Arabs and Kurds in Kirkuk and other disputed areas claimed by Baghdad and Erbil.
"We are in constant talks to resolve the issue. Our meetings are ongoing about Kirkuk," Nadir said, adding the part of the burden lies with the KRG. "The KRG must seriously engage and help resolve this growing issue.”
The matter could be resolved by law, said Nadir, but it has now taken a "political course."
"So the KRG and the all Kurdish parties should step up and coordinate with the federal government of Iraq to put an end to this issue," he implored.
The Sargaran villagers previously have laid partial blame for the attacks on inaction by Kurdish parties. They say that they have contacted Kurdish parties, security and government departments in Kirkuk to help stop the seizure of lands, but not received support or a response.
A Kurdish villager in Kirkuk also lamented over the weekend that Arab settlers had stolen his wheat crop.
“These lands are ours. We have planted the land, and it is ours. The wheat is ripe. We have learned that yesterday they went and harvested them. They took away the wheat,” Hersh Hussein, a Kurd from Mama village, in Dibis district, told Rudaw English on Friday, claiming that the wheat was taken by an Arab family from Nineveh province.
Vian Sabri, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) bloc in the Iraqi parliament, called the situation in nearby Palkana “not legal,” “unconstitutional,” and “inhumane” in a tweet on Tuesday.
Hatam Taii, a spokesperson for Arabs in Kirkuk told Rudaw English they have "official proof" and documents from the 1940s and 1950s that the area belongs to the Shammar, a large Arab tribe. Taii said that there are many sides who would have attempted to escalate the situation for political reasons, but that "the determining factor between all has to be the law.”
Arabs from elsewhere in Iraq were brought into the disputed areas of Kirkuk largely between 1970 and 1978. The Arabization of province has been a historical flashpoint between Baghdad and the Kurds.
After 2003 and the fall of the Baath regime, Iraq began a policy of de-Arabization to reverse the demographic changes, within the framework of Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution. Lands that had been confiscated from Kurds and Turkmen were returned, while the Arabs who had been settled there by the Baathists were given financial compensation.
Following the events of October 16, 2017 with the Iraqi federal forces taking over most of the disputed areas claimed by Baghdad and Erbil, many Kurdish villagers fled the area fearing violence from Iraqi and Shiite armed groups. Since then, Kurdish locals in the area have alleged that a “re-Arabization” of the region is underway.
Acting Kirkuk Governor Rakan al-Jabouri issued 14 decrees seizing land owned by Kurds and giving it to Arabs, before Iraq’s Federal Court rescinded his decrees in December.
Jabouri said in a press conference on Sunday that Arabs are the original inhabitants of Sargaran. He also described the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) as a "successful partner" with the local authorities in the disputed province, Kirkuk Now reported.
The PUK officially responded saying "the PUK has no partnership with Rakan Saeed or the governorate of Kirkuk. But the PUK represents the majority of the Kirkuk province and it is normal to be in touch with the self-governing authorities of Kirkuk to carry out people's affairs and resolve their issues."
The PUK's Kirkuk office rejected Jabouri's claims who had said Arabs were original inhabitants of Sargaran, not Kurds.
The PUK said the Kurds are the original inhabitants of the area and Arabs are settlers who were brought to the region as part of Saddam Hussein's Arabization policies.
"As the PUK, we are asking for the 1959 census to become the basis to decide who the original inhabitants of the region are," the PUK added.
The PUK reiterated the Shammar tribe is not from the area.
The PUK officially responded saying "the PUK has no partnership with Rakan Saeed or the governorate of Kirkuk. But the PUK represents the majority of the Kirkuk province and it is normal to be in touch with the self-governing authorities of Kirkuk to carry out people's affairs and resolve their issues."
The PUK's Kirkuk office rejected Jabouri's claims who had said Arabs were original inhabitants of Sargaran, not Kurds.
The PUK said the Kurds are the original inhabitants of the area and Arabs are settlers who were brought to the region as part of Saddam Hussein's Arabization policies.
"As the PUK, we are asking for the 1959 census to become the basis to decide who the original inhabitants of the region are," the PUK added.
The PUK reiterated the Shammar tribe is not from the area.
Reporting by Nahro Mohammed
