Shia Turkman replaces Kurdish Director of Kirkuk’s Department of Agriculture
The Kurdish Director of Agriculture in the Kirkuk province on Monday was dismissed and replaced by a Shia Turkman as part of an ongoing 'Shia-fication' campaign being carried out since the Oct. 16 takeover by Iraqi forces, according to a source within the department.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdish Director of Agriculture in the Kirkuk province on Monday was dismissed and replaced by a Shia Turkman as part of an ongoing 'Shia-fication' campaign being carried out since the Oct. 16 takeover by Iraqi forces, according to a source within the department.
Mahdi Mubarak Kakayi, the Director of the Kirkuk Agriculture Department, was removed from his post after moving to Erbil following the attack and takeover of Kirkuk by Iraqi forces and the Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militia on Oct. 16, 2017, a source in Kirkuk told Kurdistan 24 on Tuesday.
“The Director’s position was given to Zuhir Ali, a Shia Turkman from Tal Afar (a town in west Mosul, Nineveh Province),” the source added, stating it was part of a forced demographic change campaign currently underway in Kirkuk.
“The Deputy Director of Agriculture post was also given to a Sunni Turkman named Yalcin Shakir.”
In a statement to Kurdistan 24, Mubarak confirmed his dismissal but declined to provide any further comment.
The decision to replace him was made on Monday by the Iraqi Minister of Agriculture, Falah Hassan, and both the new Director and his deputy have been asked to begin work in their new roles immediately, according to the source.
Since Oct. 16, roughly 80 Kurdish officials in Kirkuk have been removed from their posts; Among them are the Governor, Kirkuk’s Security Director, the Mayors of Kirkuk city, Dibis, Daquq, and Khurmatu, as well as the District and Suburban Police Director.
At the request of acting Kirkuk Governor, Rakan Saeed, on Dec. 27, Abbas Fakhraddin, a Shia Turkman, replaced Azad Abdullah, the Kurdish Agricultural Director for Kirkuk’s Daquq district.
Kirkuk is one of the most diverse provinces in the country, and it is made up of Turkmen, Arabs, Christians, and a Kurdish majority.
The province is a disputed territory which has undergone several Arabization processes throughout history with the aim of changing its demographics.
Kurdish political analysts in Kirkuk assert that since Oct. 16, the province is facing another demographic change, but this time of a sectarian nature, calling it a ‘Shia-fication’ process.
Over 180,000 people from Kirkuk and other disputed territories, mostly Kurds, fled to the Kurdistan Region out of fear of human rights violations and abuses at the hand of the militia groups.
Editing by Nadia Riva