Tensions are rising in the village of Palkana in Kirkuk with the Iraqi army preventing Kurdish farmers from harvesting their wheat, after Arab settlers claimed to have a share in the produce and set up tents on the land in a bit to pressure the federal government into backing their claims.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, however, ordered the removal of the ban that had prevented Kurds from harvesting their crops, according to a Saturday statement from Shakhawan Abdullah, deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament.
“We are the native people of Palkana and we will not allow harvesting until we get our rights back,” an Arab settler within the tent told Rudaw’s Hiwa Husamaddin on Sunday.
“The Kurds are our brothers and if they have the right, let them win. We call on the Federal Court and the Iraqi prime minister to resolve our issue,” said Jabbar Abbas, another Arab. “Even if there is an order to harvest, we will not accept it and will not allow it [the crops] to be harvested.”
The dispute dates back to the Baathist era. Land belonging to several disputed villages was taken away from Kurdish farmers by the Iraqi government in 1975 on grounds that they were located in prohibited oil zones. Two years later, in 1977, under Decree No. 949 issued by the Baath Supreme Revolutionary Council, they were given to Arabs who were resettled into the area.
This Arabization of the province has been a historical flashpoint between Baghdad and the Kurds.
Kurds from other parts of Kirkuk province have come to Palkana in a show of solidarity against what they call a renewed Arabization of the village.
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 Saddam Hussein.
Recently, however, Kurds have complained that the policy of Arabization has been revived.
Mohammed Amin, a representative of Kurdish farmers in Palkana, told Rudaw on Friday that the Iraqi army banned them from harvesting around 50,000 acres of land in the village. He said they informed Kurdish lawmakers in Baghdad of the situation in the hopes that the federal parliament would intervene.
