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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Days after Kurdish villagers engaged in clashes with Arab families over land ownership claims in the disputed territories of Kirkuk and Salahaddin provinces, a senior Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader warned of a new wave of Arabization, urging Kurdish leadership to halt the phenomenon.
"Step by step, the resettled Arabs are being returned to the bulk of the disputed territories," Harem Kamal Agha, an MP and deputy head of the PUK bloc in Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw, describing the move as a "fresh plan" and "a new Arabization process" by Baghdad.
The PUK MP urged his party's leadership and that of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to cast their differences aside and halt the demographic change.
Clashes erupted Sunday south of Kirkuk between Kurdish villagers and more than a dozen Arab families who once lived in the area over claims of land ownership in the volatile region.
The dispute took place in Guli Tapa, a village located between Daquq in Kirkuk province and Tuz Khurmatu in Salahaddin province.
As part of its Arabization policy, Saddam Hussein's Baath regime constructed a village called Mahawsh for Arabs relocated from elsewhere in Iraq in the 1990s on Guli Tapa land belonging to Kurdish villagers.
Arabs from elsewhere in Iraq were moved into the disputed areas of Kirkuk largely between 1970 and 1978. The Arabization of the province has historically been a flashpoint between Baghdad and the Kurds.
Following the collapse of the Baath regime in 2003, the resettled Arabs were returned to their areas of origin further south in Iraq, with land returned to the original Kurdish inhabitants, according to Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution - designed to resolve disputes of territory claimed by Iraq's various ethnic and religious groups.
Lands that had been confiscated from Kurds and Turkmen were returned, while the Arabs who had been resettled were given financial compensation. According to figures provided by Kirkuk's Agriculture Department, more than 1.2 million dunams of agricultural land were returned to their owners who were mostly Kurds, along with some Turkmen after 2003.
However, since federal forces took control of disputed territories including Kirkuk on October 16, 2017, Kurdish locals have alleged that a process of "re-arabization" is underway in the area.
A senior KDP official echoed the sentiment that the volatile region was headed towards a "dangerous explosion" in the wake of the return of the resettled Arabs, but warned that such disputes should be resolved on a state-level.
"We are calling on the Region's government and the federal government to tackle this issue according to law and the constitution and that it should not be left to this and that group, or this and that party to solve," said Kamal Kirkuki, a KDP politburo member.
In an effort to resolve land ownership disputes between various ethnic groups in Kirkuk province, the Iraqi Presidency announced the formation of a committee made up of government and parliament representatives on Monday, Jamal Shukur, a member of the Iraqi Parliament from the PUK bloc, confirmed to Rudaw.
Zuhair Ali, the head of Kirkuk’s Agriculture Department, says the Iraqi Justice Ministry has started reviewing past land ownership documents, contracts and deeds, and will once again register them.
The mayor of the district of Daquq where the land dispute emerged described the Arabs as the indigenous inhabitants of the area.
"The Arabs are indegenous people from Kirkuk and their identification cards are from Daquq," Luis Sheikh Fandi, mayor of Daquq, told Rudaw, adding that they possess the "land ownership deeds".
Nazim Shamari, deputy head of the Arab Front in Kirkuk, claims however that "these Arabs are not the resettled Arabs and they carry Kirkuk residency and identification cards."
He says both sides - Kurds and Arabs - should at least reach "an intermediate solution".
"Let the court do the work and farmers show their land ownership documents. Whoever can prove the ownership should keep the land," he added.
The land ownership dispute and the alleged return of resettled Arabs has angered many in the Kurdistan Region.
"This is a continuation of Saddam Hussein's Arabization process," Salam Fatih, a retired government employee in Sulaimani, told Rudaw.
Translated by Zhelwan Z. Wali
"Step by step, the resettled Arabs are being returned to the bulk of the disputed territories," Harem Kamal Agha, an MP and deputy head of the PUK bloc in Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw, describing the move as a "fresh plan" and "a new Arabization process" by Baghdad.
The PUK MP urged his party's leadership and that of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to cast their differences aside and halt the demographic change.
Clashes erupted Sunday south of Kirkuk between Kurdish villagers and more than a dozen Arab families who once lived in the area over claims of land ownership in the volatile region.
The dispute took place in Guli Tapa, a village located between Daquq in Kirkuk province and Tuz Khurmatu in Salahaddin province.
As part of its Arabization policy, Saddam Hussein's Baath regime constructed a village called Mahawsh for Arabs relocated from elsewhere in Iraq in the 1990s on Guli Tapa land belonging to Kurdish villagers.
Arabs from elsewhere in Iraq were moved into the disputed areas of Kirkuk largely between 1970 and 1978. The Arabization of the province has historically been a flashpoint between Baghdad and the Kurds.
Following the collapse of the Baath regime in 2003, the resettled Arabs were returned to their areas of origin further south in Iraq, with land returned to the original Kurdish inhabitants, according to Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution - designed to resolve disputes of territory claimed by Iraq's various ethnic and religious groups.
Lands that had been confiscated from Kurds and Turkmen were returned, while the Arabs who had been resettled were given financial compensation. According to figures provided by Kirkuk's Agriculture Department, more than 1.2 million dunams of agricultural land were returned to their owners who were mostly Kurds, along with some Turkmen after 2003.
However, since federal forces took control of disputed territories including Kirkuk on October 16, 2017, Kurdish locals have alleged that a process of "re-arabization" is underway in the area.
A senior KDP official echoed the sentiment that the volatile region was headed towards a "dangerous explosion" in the wake of the return of the resettled Arabs, but warned that such disputes should be resolved on a state-level.
"We are calling on the Region's government and the federal government to tackle this issue according to law and the constitution and that it should not be left to this and that group, or this and that party to solve," said Kamal Kirkuki, a KDP politburo member.
In an effort to resolve land ownership disputes between various ethnic groups in Kirkuk province, the Iraqi Presidency announced the formation of a committee made up of government and parliament representatives on Monday, Jamal Shukur, a member of the Iraqi Parliament from the PUK bloc, confirmed to Rudaw.
Zuhair Ali, the head of Kirkuk’s Agriculture Department, says the Iraqi Justice Ministry has started reviewing past land ownership documents, contracts and deeds, and will once again register them.
The mayor of the district of Daquq where the land dispute emerged described the Arabs as the indigenous inhabitants of the area.
"The Arabs are indegenous people from Kirkuk and their identification cards are from Daquq," Luis Sheikh Fandi, mayor of Daquq, told Rudaw, adding that they possess the "land ownership deeds".
Nazim Shamari, deputy head of the Arab Front in Kirkuk, claims however that "these Arabs are not the resettled Arabs and they carry Kirkuk residency and identification cards."
He says both sides - Kurds and Arabs - should at least reach "an intermediate solution".
"Let the court do the work and farmers show their land ownership documents. Whoever can prove the ownership should keep the land," he added.
The land ownership dispute and the alleged return of resettled Arabs has angered many in the Kurdistan Region.
"This is a continuation of Saddam Hussein's Arabization process," Salam Fatih, a retired government employee in Sulaimani, told Rudaw.
Translated by Zhelwan Z. Wali
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