Kirkuk farmers say Arabs violating land agreement

DAQUQ, Iraq — Kurdish farmers in Kirkuk have complained that Arab farmers are not abiding by an agreement to stay off farmland in Daquq, with federal police doing little to solve the situation. 

Locals say an agreement was made that neither Kurdish farmers nor Arabs in the area would use 7,000 dunams of farmland in order to avoid further tensions in the area.

However, farmer say that they are prevented from using the land while Arab residents violate the agreement. 

"It was decided that neither side would use the land. They plough the land secretly but the security forces do not allow us [to do the same]. They have their land in Diyala, Hamrin and Zikhwetun. All of them are official and are ten times better than ours. We won’t let them use our land," said Nawzat Hidayat, a farmer from the village of Fariq. 

Kurdish farmers have previously voiced concern over land takeover, and have also accused Arabs of setting fire to their crops.

"If they don’t allow us to plough our lands we will have no option but to leave," said Arkan Ali Baba, a farmer from Mansour village. 

Agriculture officials have called for a legal resolution to the dispute. 

"The tension is between the people of the area. The case is not taken to the district agricultural committee or Kirkuk’s Agricultural Directorate...no one shall resolve the issue without legal court rulings," said  Zuher Ali, Director of the Kirkuk Agricultural Directorate.

Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed