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HAFTAGHAR, Iraq — Kurdish farmers in the Kirkuk village of Haftaghar have protested alleged land takeover by Arab settlers, in the latest land dispute in the province.
Farmers say Arab settlers – who were given land during the Baath regime rule – have ploughed their land with permission of the Iraqi security forces.
“There were around 20 tractors ploughing our farmland. We have official papers, including contracts, land ownership and court documents. The farmers protested and the security forces went to them and confiscated the tractors for three days,” said Assi Ali.
“The governor has decided the farmland, which has been owned by the Kurds since 2003, should be given to the Arabs,” said village chieftain Mohammed Ibrahim.
Farmers gathered in the village on Tuesday to protest, and say the Arabs have been barred from using the land for three days.
Kirkuk province constitutes part of the territories disputed between Erbil and Baghdad.
Arabs from elsewhere in Iraq were brought into the disputed areas of Kirkuk largely between 1970 and 1978. The Arabization of the province has been a historical flashpoint between Baghdad and the Kurds.
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 begun by Saddam Hussein.
Lands that had been confiscated from Kurds and Turkmen were returned, while the Arabs who had been resettled were given financial compensation.
“The decision from the governorate is a violation of article 140 that says these Arabs have been compensated. In article 140, subdivision four says anyone who has been compensated has withdrawn from the contract,” said Shkar Mardan, a lawyer representing the farmers in Haftaghar.
Kurdish farmers across several Kirkuk villages have said that Arabs have encroached on their land.
Farmers in the village of Mansour previously accused Arab farmers of violating an agreement to stay off their farmland, saying federal police do little to intervene.
Kurdish residents of the village of Palkana were threatened with expulsion earlier this month.
Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
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