Error occured during this request! Please try again later.
-
PALKANA, Iraq — Kirkuk’s joint operation commander has reportedly backed down from a previous order demanding Kurdish residents of the disputed village of Palkana allow the settlement of Arabs. However, villagers are still on high alert, saying that their land is still at risk.
After intervention in the matter from members of Iraq’s parliament, Saad Harbiya, commander of Kirkuk Operations Command, said he would not move forward in his threat of force if residents did not make way for Arab settlers, according to Nasir Harki, a member of Iraq’s parliament.
A large number of Iraqi security forces remain deployed to the area, and some residents say they were not allowed to re-enter the village on Monday.
“They asked for my ID and what I am doing in Palkana. They then ordered me to leave,” claimed Bakhtiyar Palkanayi, a farmer who was returning from his field on Monday.
Residents say Arab settlers have started to register empty houses as their own.
“Do you see this house? It belongs to Ali Rahman, whose son wanted to get married. But they have stopped him,” said Fakhir Mohammed, a Palkana local. “You see they tried to renovate, but they [authorities] didn’t allow it. The Arabs have come to confiscate it.”
The leader of the Mama Seni tribe claims settlers want to confiscate the area for its natural resources.
“Our area has about 350 oil wells. They want to settle Arabs here to smuggle oil for both our [Kurdish] and their [Iraqi] authorities,” said Maarouf Hamadamin, the tribe’s leader, told Rudaw. “We have been sold, for God’s sake, come and rescue us from this hardship.”
A committee to settle the village dispute has been proposed by Iraqi parliament’s deputy speaker. However, it is waiting on approval from parliament for its formation.
MP Harki, who serves on parliament’s security and defence committee, says the legislative body has a responsibility to settle the dispute.
“The committee has to start work and visit the area as soon as possible and provide a detailed report about the issue,” said Harki.
Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment