Kurdish Farmers in Khurmatu Defy Arrest Warrants Amid Intensifying Arabization Campaign

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Kurdish farmers in the Khurmatu district are facing a renewed and systematic campaign of Arabization, culminating in the issuance of arrest warrants and attempts by settlers, backed by state security forces, to seize agricultural lands using defunct Ba'ath-era contracts.

In the village of Tapa Sawz, farmers have vowed to defend their ancestral properties, refusing to surrender to legal and physical intimidation in what they describe as the latest chapter of a long and painful struggle for their land and identity.

The village of Tapa Sawz, home to approximately 120 Kurdish households that remained after the events of Oct. 2017, has become a flashpoint in the ongoing demographic conflict.

In the past two days, a tense standoff unfolded after Arab settlers, supported by the Iraqi army, attempted to occupy 1,800 donums of farmland belonging to local Kurdish families. The settlers presented contracts issued during the former Ba'ath regime as justification for their claim.

The Kurdish farmers collectively refused to yield and successfully prevented the occupation, thwarting the settlers' plan. However, the confrontation has now moved to the legal arena.

In the latest development, arrest warrants have been issued for four Kurdish landowners from the village, with the court demanding they surrender themselves, sign a pledge, and relinquish their lands.

One of the targeted farmers, speaking to Kurdistan24, expressed unwavering defiance. "I will not go before the court in any way, nor will I sign any pledge. We will not give up the land of our forefathers," he declared, issuing a direct appeal to Kurdish officials to intervene and resolve their problem to prevent the Arabization of their village and soil.

This follows the arrest warrants issued last month for 24 other farmers from Tapa Sawz amid similar tensions, who were later released on bails of five million Iraqi dinars each.

Ahmed Jumaa, the representative of the farmers of Tapa Sawz, provided crucial context to the dispute in an interview with Kurdistan24.

"These contracts we have are like title deeds, but they are not being honored now. The imported Arabs have occupied our lands," he explained. Jumaa recounted a painful history, stating, "We were displaced in 1987 under the pretext of being saboteurs, and our villages were destroyed."

He noted that the Arab settlers have held contracts on the 1,800 donums of land since 1990. "From 2003 until 2014, we had no problems, but since 2014, they evacuated the area because most of them were ISIS. However, after October 16th, they are increasingly going to court and filing complaints," he said.

Jumaa also alleged political motivations behind the settlers' actions, claiming a local council member supports them in exchange for votes. He asserted that the renewal of some of these old contracts was illegal, as the law requires prior cultivation and testimony from neighboring landowners, conditions that were not met.

Critically, he revealed that the farmers have received a letter from the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture stating that the area falls under Article 140 of the Constitution and no contracts should be renewed until a parliamentary decision is made, with the letter stipulating that the contracts should revert to their pre-Ba'athist status.

The events in Tapa Sawz are not an isolated incident but are reflective of a persistent and troubling pattern of pressure against Kurdish landowners in Kirkuk and other Kurdistani territories outside the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) administration.

As previously reported by Kurdistan24, a Kirkuk court in July 2025 sentenced Ibrahim Tobzawayi, a Kurdish farmer, to a six-month suspended prison term after the Iraqi army filed a complaint against him for building a house on his own ancestral land.

Tobzawayi described the ruling as the direct implementation of "Baath-era decisions," part of a wider campaign of military pressure.

The military’s actions have not been confined to legal challenges. In May 2025, Kurdish farmers in Kirkuk reported that military units were actively preventing them from working their land and harvesting crops, even after the Iraqi government had included their farms in a wheat subsidy program.

This systematic pressure has been met with powerful displays of Kurdish resilience and, at times, significant legal victories.

A landmark case in May 2025 saw a court in Kirkuk's Dibis District rule in favor of three Kurdish farmers from Shenagha village, affirming their ownership of land claimed by Arab settlers. That victory followed a tense standoff in February 2025, where an Iraqi soldier was filmed trying to drag a farmer off his tractor.

The farmer’s defiant cry, “Even if I die, I will not get down from the tractor!” became a potent symbol of Kurdish resistance and was widely circulated by Kurdistan24, whose extensive coverage led to a temporary reporting ban by the Iraqi army.

The plight of the farmers has drawn strong condemnation from the highest levels of the Kurdistan Region's leadership.

In response to the events in Shenagha, President Masoud Barzani issued a powerful statement, warning that the scenes of harassment "remind us of the Anfal, chemical attacks, and genocide committed against our people."

Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has also been a vocal advocate, stating in March 2025 during a visit with Peshmerga and farmers in Kirkuk that these regions are "not disputed; they are occupied and separated territories."

He reaffirmed the KRG's unwavering commitment to defending farmers' rights through constitutional means. His office, along with the Kurdistan Region Presidency, has consistently condemned the Iraqi army's actions as unconstitutional and a threat to coexistence.

This long-running struggle is rooted in the systematic Arabization policies of Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime, which forcibly displaced hundreds of thousands of Kurds and other minorities and resettled Arab tribes in their place.

Article 140 of the 2005 Iraqi Constitution was designed to reverse these demographic changes through a three-stage process of normalization, a census, and a referendum. However, its implementation has been repeatedly stalled, leaving land ownership in a state of perpetual dispute.

While the Iraqi Parliament recently passed a law aimed at annulling Ba'ath-era land confiscation decisions, the events in Tapa Sawz and elsewhere demonstrate a profound disconnect between legislation in Baghdad and the reality on the ground, where military forces and politically-backed settlers continue to enforce a bygone legal order.

As the farmers of Tapa Sawz brace for their legal battle, their message remains one of steadfast resolve. "We will not give up a single inch of our lands," representative Ahmed Jumaa stressed to Kurdistan24. Their defiance encapsulates the enduring fight of an entire community to reclaim its history, protect its heritage, and secure its future on the land of its forefathers against the tide of historical injustice.

Kurdistan24's correspondent, Hemn Delo, contributed to this report.