PM Barzani condemns the attack on Kurdish farmers in Kirkuk Governorate
“I'm deeply concerned by the reports of attacks on Kurdish farmers in Daquq, Kirkuk.”
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, issued a statement on Wednesday concerning the attacks on Kurdish farmers in Daquq district, east of Kirkuk city.
“I'm deeply concerned by the reports of attacks on Kurdish farmers in Daquq, Kirkuk,” PM Barzani said.
He called upon, “the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, and the Speaker of the Federal Council of Representatives to take immediate actions to end these aggressive attacks, which are carried out by the Influential people in the government.”
“The attackers are attempting to expel the Kurds and confiscate their agricultural lands, in a way that contradicts the law,” he added to the statement.
“These actions are completely inconsistent with the principles of peaceful coexistence and Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution,” the premier stressed and noted, “Federal institutions must put an end to such violations.”
The Prime Minister's statement came after a fight broke out between Kurds and Arabs over fertile farmland, resulted in injuring several Kurdish farmers.
The tensions happened after some Arab farmers tried to confiscate Kurdish farmlands, according to Mulla Hasan Duzi, a member of the suspended Council of Saladin Governorate and the owner of the farmland that Arab farmers tried to confiscate.
Read More: Kurds displaced, some forcibly, from Kirkuk, surrounding areas reach 100,000
Kirkuk is a majority-Kurdish city located in northern Iraq. The city is also populated by Turkmen, Arabs, and a small minority of Assyrians and long has been a center of disputes between these different ethnicities.
On October 16, 2017, Kirkuk was occupied by Iraqi and Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which resulted in the displacement of many of its population. Before 2017, Kurdish forces were present in Kirkuk.
