Barzani: Attacks against Kurds in Iraq's disputed territories 'grave injustice'

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Masoud Barzani, released a statement about recent assaults on the livelihoods of the Kurds living in Iraq's disputed territories, characterizing them a “grave injustice.”

“Attacks on Kurdish families, through burning down their farmland and crops, are a grave injustice committed against the innocent Kurdish civilians living in the areas that fall under article 140 of the Iraqi constitution.”

Article 140 provides a legal mechanism for resolving the outcome of territories disputed by Iraqi's federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) with a three-stage normalization process. This would include the return of various groups of people to their areas of origin, including those forcefully transferred in the systematic Arabization campaign carried out by the former government in cities like Kirkuk. 

Read More: Kurdish lawmakers in Iraq want committee to monitor application of Article 140 on Kirkuk

Members of the Kurdish community outside Kirkuk recently reported being forced to leave their homes with other self-proclaimed owners using the same deeds they had during the reign of Saddam Hussein to prove their ownership. 

There have also been seizures, secret harvesting, and fires set to Kurdish-owned farmland. On Wednesday, a Kurdish youth was killed and several more were injured by Islamic State militants in Kirkuk’s Daquq district after trying to extinguish wheat fields that had been set ablaze, according to local security sources.

“What is taking place in these territories is a clear violation of the law, the constitution, and humanitarian values,” said Barzani, adding that such acts show that a serious threat looms over the lives of residents and the future stability of those areas.

He went on to describe recent acts as “the prosecution of people based on ethnic grounds” and said it was contrary to the principles of coexistence and peaceful living among all populations in Iraq.  

“Forcing this situation upon residents and farmers living in those areas is not acceptable. The international community and related stakeholders need to take action against this violation of basic human rights.”

The party leader and former president concluded by stressing that “the government of Iraq needs to take responsibility for this injustice and end this illegal crusade taking place against Kurds living in the disputed territories.”  

Editing by John J. Catherine