Arabization not acceptable: Barzani

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The prominent Kurdish leader and former Kurdistan Region President states that Arabization in Kirkuk and other Kurdistani areas outside of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) administration is not acceptable.

Masoud Barzani, Head of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and former president of the Kurdistan Region on Thursday met with Kurdish figures from Sergaran area in Kirkuk province and said that they will take all necessary measures to stop Arbization in the disputed province.

In areas surrounding the Sargaran sub-district of Kirkuk’s Dibis district, Iraqi Federal Police supervised the newly-imposed Arabization process in Kurdish-majority villages with some residents reportedly given a 72-hour deadline to leave their homes.

Kirkuk has witnessed widespread violations against its Kurdish population since Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militias took over the province on Oct. 16 in response to the Kurdistan Region’s Sep. 25 independence referendum.

According to a statement released on the KDP’s website, the figures and representatives of Sargaran, in the meeting with Barzani, expressed their concerns and fear of the Arabization campaign by the Iraqi authorities in their areas, urging for the intervention of Kurdish leadership to stop the Arabization.

Barzani assured the attendants that the people of Kurdistan support them and that they will all means to prevent the inhuman Arabization in their areas and normalize the situation.

“Arabization, suppression and violating the people’s right is not acceptable,” Barzani said.

“People of the Kurdistan has a rich culture of respecting other nations and religions and will never allowed the disputes with the governments become conflict between the nations,” Barzani stated, adding that “Arabization is a dangerous process against the people of Kurdistan.”

Barzani noted that the people of Sargaran and other areas will not be left alone in the face of the oppression and Arabization.

The former Iraqi Ba’ath regime, under Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship, implemented Arabization campaigns in Kirkuk Province and other Kurdish-populated areas in Nineveh, Salahadin, and Diyala.

The campaign was meant to change the demography of the areas by forcibly displacing the Kurdish residents and replacing them with Arabs from central and southern Iraq.

Abdullah also mentioned that Arab families who were brought to the Sargaran region between 1975 to 2003 by the former regime had left the area after receiving compensation but now want to return.