ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A blacksmith in the Kurdish-majority city of Khanaqin in the eastern Diyala province was arrested Monday over what his family says was his addition of Kurdish to his shop's billboard - an incident that has further stoked tensions in a region already fraught with demographic manipulation concerns.
Rebin Star, a father of two, changed his shop sign following a campaign launched on August 23 by Rudaw's flagship program Lagal Ranj - with Ranj in Kurdish - to promote Kurdish language use in Khanaqin.
“My son only changed his sign to Kurdish - is that a crime?” his father, Star Mohammed, told Rudaw's Hunar Hamid on Monday.
“He has three brothers and two children, all with Kurdish names. We are Kurds and we want to write in our own language - yet we get arrested for it,” he added.
Iraqi security forces have also arrested two activists and issued arrest warrants for 14 others, Rudaw's Hamid reported.
The incident comes as Kurdish parties in Khanaqin on Monday put off a planned mass demonstration against what they describe as the city's "Arabization,” citing inadequate security arrangements and demanding the release of detainees and the withdrawal of arrest warrants against activists, political figures, and youths who had intended to take part.
The call for protest coincided with a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) official warning on Monday of demographic changes in the disputed Kurdish-majority city.
Fahmi Burhan, chairman of the General Board for Kurdistani Areas Outside the KRG Administration, told Rudaw’s Sangar Abdulrahman that Arab incomers are “increasingly buying land and orchards” in Khanaqin and that “sub-districts are being administratively separated from the city and elevated to full district status,” encroaching on the city center.
Importantly, he clarified that the issue does not concern “Arab brothers who are indigenous to Khanaqin, but those being brought into the area outside the framework of Article 140 of the constitution,” which calls for restoring original residents to their hometown registries.
The board Burhan oversees advocates for the implementation of Article 140, which governs the status of disputed territories between the federal government in Baghdad and the KRG, including areas like Khanaqin and other parts of Diyala, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Salahaddin provinces.
According to the KRG official, Kurdish-speaking residents of Khanaqin are being prevented from using Kurdish in government offices, calling it "a dangerous indicator." He further noted that “the issue is not entirely on Baghdad's shoulders - we share in it, too," criticizing Kurdish parties representing Khanaqin in federal institutions for falling short.
According to the KRG official, Kurdish-speaking residents of Khanaqin are also being prevented from using Kurdish in government offices - a situation he described as "a dangerous indicator."
Meanwhile, Kurdish parties in Khanaqin said in a joint statement Monday that meetings had been arranged between protest organisers and Iraqi officials to allow them to "deliver the demands of the people of Khanaqin in a direct and official manner."
