“600 pieces of land will be distributed to Kirkuk University’s lecturers and employees,” Rebwar Taha told reporters, adding that the process does not include Arab residents who are not originally from the city.
Only those employees “who are identified as the people of Kirkuk as per the 1957 census” can benefit from the land distribution program, the governor elaborated.
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 by Saddam Hussein during the Anfal campaign.
Arab settlers in Kirkuk recently made many attempts to confiscate land belonging to Kurdish and Turkmen farmers and the previous administration was accused of supporting the settlers.
Taha is a Kurd and assumed the position in a disputed vote last month.
