Iraqi cabinet approves draft law to resolve Kirkuk land dispute

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s Council of Ministers unanimously approved a draft law that revokes all rulings made by the Baath regime decades ago to confiscate agricultural lands of Kurds and Turkmens in Kirkuk, finally moving towards closing a bitter chapter in Iraq’s history.

The Baath regime’s notorious Revolutionary Command Council in the 1970s issued nine decrees transferring ownership of properties belonging to Kurdish and Turkmen farmers in Kirkuk province to the defense ministry and the municipality. After the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003, the farmers returned to their land. Several efforts were made to annul the Revolutionary Command Council decrees and officially return the land to its rightful owners, but they were never seen through to completion because of political wrangling.

Kurdish and Turkmen farmers this year feared they would lose their properties again after the Iraqi army asked them to vacate the land to make way for military bases. The farmers staged weeks of sit-ins and protests. With the Council of Ministers’ decision, it appears the problem may finally be on the road to a resolution.

In a statement, the cabinet said that it “passed a draft law that annuls the decrees of the Revolutionary Command Council pertaining to Kirkuk province,” adding that this decision is supported by the constitution. 

Iraqi Justice Minister Khalid Shwani, a Kurd from Kirkuk, told reporters after the cabinet meeting that the draft law passed unanimously. He described it as “good news” for Kurdish and Turkmen farmers in Kirkuk. “This draft law includes the revocation of all nine decisions issued after 1976 to invade the agricultural lands of Kurds and Turkmens,” he said. 

Shwani also said that this issue was on the government’s agenda following an agreement between parties during negotiations to form the cabinet. 

The draft law will now be sent to the parliament for approval. The minister later told Rudaw that because there was consensus in the cabinet, he believes it will be passed by the legislature without difficulty. “This does not only apply to Kirkuk but all disrupted areas and it will not harm any group. The affected people will be compensated,” he said. 

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani in June ordered the formation of a specialized high committee to investigate the ownership of farmland in Kirkuk, after the farmers had been protesting for nearly two weeks.

The protests began after the commander of Iraqi army Brigade 11 in late May sent a letter to the Kirkuk agriculture department, asking them to make land in several villages south of Kirkuk available to be turned into military bases and residential units for soldiers. The army wanted approximately 13,000 dunams of land.