ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A 73-year-old Kurdish farmer said the Iraqi army tried to arrest him for working on his farm in Kirkuk where longstanding land disputes have created tensions between communities.
“They came to my house saying ‘Come with me to the [police] station’. I asked why? He said ‘You must come to the station. You have watered [your field]’. I said I will not come,” Ali Rahman, a farmer from Palkana village, told Rudaw.
The army called the police to come and arrest the farmer, but the police said they cannot act without a court order.
Early in November, the Iraqi army prohibited Kurdish farmers in the Sargaran subdistrict from plowing their fields in preparation for planting winter crops. Some Kurdish farmers also claimed Arab farmers have blocked them from working their farms. The land in dispute was part of Baathist-era demographic changes that forced Kurds and Turkmen off their land and brought in Arab settlers.
Kirkuk Governor Rebwar Taha intervened and an agreement was reached to allow Kurdish farmers temporary access to most of their land in order to plant. However, farmers in the area say they are frustrated because they are still being denied access.
“Because of our experiences, we are truly hopeless. Many times they have promised, higher-ups have made promises, but the army has prohibited it. They do not allow us to work,” said Ma’rouf Ahmed, a farmer from Kharaba village in Sargaran.
Ahmed Mohammed, another farmer from Kharaba, alleged political interference.
“There surely is a faction behind this. There is even a faction that incites the Arabs,” he said, referring to alleged efforts by political parties to encourage Arab settlers in Kirkuk to obstruct local farmers from accessing the lands they claim ownership over.
After 2003 and the fall of the Baath regime, Iraq began a policy of de-Arabization within the framework of Article 140 of the constitution, which aims to reverse the demographic changes carried out by former dictator Saddam Hussein. The article has never been fully implemented.
Kaka Rash Siddiq, head of Kirkuk’s office for the implementation of Article 140, alleged that documents to support the claims of Arab settlers have been forged.
“This is forgery and any forged documents should be taken to court,” Siddiq told Rudaw, asserting that legal action could help farmers make progress with their cause.
Nash’at Rahman, another farmer, expressed concerns about financial losses due to restrictions on farming.
“The government is stopping us. I have wheat [seeds] and fertilizer,” he said, explaining that if he cannot plant his crop, he risks losing money that he already spent.
There is a bill in parliament to restore confiscated lands to the original owners, but voting on it has been delayed repeatedly.
Kurdish lawmakers in September boycotted a session that excluded the bill. In late October, the parliament adjourned its session after tensions rose between Kurdish and Sunni lawmakers over the proposed bill. Kurdish members of parliament have said that there is also opposition among Shiites. In November, a scheduled vote was postponed.
Hardi Mohammed contributed to this report.
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