Village leader: Kurds outside Kirkuk face renewed phase of Arabization, arson

The villagers of Kirkuk province’s Palkana experience a new phase of Arabization on their agricultural lands as well as arson attacks during harvest season, according to the village head.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – According to the village head of Palkana, located outside the disputed Iraqi city of Kirkuk, residents are experiencing a new phase of Arabization on their agricultural lands as well as arson attacks during harvest season. 

Crop fires on agricultural lands are mounting in several Iraqi districts as they did last year, many of them in areas disputed by Erbil and Baghdad with unknown caused or causes. Many accuse the so-called Islamic State of being behind such incidents as part of their continued campaign of terrorism. 

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The local official whose name was not given, accuses a different side.

“In addition to their [ethnic Arabs] invasion, they try to cause us a problem,” Palkana’s village chief said, citing last year’s arson attacks “as they intentionally did last year” to force us to leave the area.

“We [Kurds of Palkana village] show some flexibility” for the sake of thwarting escalation, he added.

Regarding the issue of Arabization, the village head also mentioned “six Arab families that were brought in” and “invaded” the lands that belong to the Kurds.

“These lands belong to them [the Kurds] according to the official documents,” Nasr Harki, a Kurdish lawmaker and a member of the Committee, told Kurdistan 24, while he was visiting the village along with a delegation from the Iraqi parliament to closely investigate the issue.

Several Sunni Arab tribes in Kirkuk province’s Hawija district have asked the federal government to provide them arms with which to defend themselves against the extremist organization's increasing attacks.

“The main issue of the Kurdish landowners is with these people [Tribal forces],” Mohammad Khurshid, head of Kirkuk’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Branch, told Kurdistan 24, explaining that it poses a threat on the Kurdish property rights.

Read More: Tribes in Iraq's disputed Kirkuk province request arms to fight ISIS

According to a document released by the Iraqi Civil Defense Directorate, from late April to early May, around 100 hectares of agricultural lands have been burnt across Iraq, with three incidents in Kirkuk province, totaling 26 acres of agricultural lands in the province.

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

After the fall of the former Iraqi dictator in 2003, the lands were given back to their Kurdish and Turkmen owners when the Arabs left voluntarily in exchange for a sum of money promised by the Iraqi Constitution.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany

(Additional reporting by Renas Ali)