Arabs from elsewhere in Iraq were brought into the disputed areas of Kirkuk largely between 1970 and 1978. After 2003, however, Iraq began a policy of de-Arabization to reverse the demographic changes.
Within the framework of Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, these lands were returned to the Kurds. But the events of October 16 have made it possible for Arab settlers to reclaim these lands. There have been multiple reports of Arabization resuming.
Rudaw visited the village of Palkana near Sargaran, west of Kirkuk, where Arab settlers have returned. The 20 Kurdish families remaining in the village say they are being forced out.
Six houses and tens of acres of Kurdish land have been seized by Arab settlers, allegedly with the backing of Iraqi forces stationed in the area.
“They have come to occupy our places and seize our lands and crops as well as insulting us,” one resident told Rudaw, claiming armed men had come to intimidate them.
According to the people of Palkana, Arab families have been brought to their village, where they raise livestock and have seized land.
“These six Arab settlers, nobody knows whether they are Iraqis, Syrians or Jordanians, have come to expel us from here,” said another resident. “Unfortunately this government supports them. We as the Kurdish nation do not accept aggression from anyone.”
For more than eight months, the people of Palkana have been contacting Kurdistani parties, security and government departments in Kirkuk to stop efforts to seize their lands. But they have got no response.
“This question is related to the lands mentioned in Article 140. The court cannot interfere in this. But because of Arab forces in this area, these Arabs come and put pressure on the Kurds. The solution is, in negotiations to form the new Iraqi government, the Kurds should send Peshmerga forces back to jointly control these areas like Kirkuk and other places outside the Kurdistan Region,” Rebwar Taha, a PUK member of the Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw.
Kurdish officials have tried to address the problem, but with little success. They are calling on the Iraqi government to honor the terms of Article 140.
