PUK Urges Iraqi Government to Stop Military Interference in Kirkuk's Land Disputes

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The Political Bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) issued a message on Monday, 17 February 2025, urging the Iraqi Government to stop the Iraqi military's interference in Kirkuk's farmer's land issues.

The PUK Political Bureau's message said: 

"The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) urges the federal government to prevent the military from interfering in the land issues of Kirkuk and its surrounding villages, as well as to order army units to uphold their national and constitutional responsibilities and refrain from interfering in internal Iraqi society and communities.

The PUK believes that the army is not a part of the internal matters, and that resolving land and property conflicts through unjust use of force and attacks on citizens can never be successful. That is not the proper way to resolve property disputes because taking sides with any party in state institutions, particularly the military, which is in charge of protecting the country's borders, sets a dangerous precedent and violates the constitution, as well as laws passed by parliament, which recently overturned the former Ba'ath regime's decisions on farmers' property.

We feel that the phenomena of military forces interfering in land issues in a sensitive area, such as Kirkuk, a disputed land, does not provide a healthy environment for promoting the development of peace and order but rather complicates it. The coalition government and the prime minister must take this national and constitutional obligation more seriously and respond more bravely."

The Iraqi military forces in Sargaran district, Kirkuk province, violated the law passed by the Iraqi Parliament and the decision of the Iraqi Federal Court and forcibly prevented the Kurdish farmers from working in their   lands on Monday, 17 February 2025. The army attacked the Kurdish farmers.

"In addition to pulling my scarf, they beat me, so I will file a lawsuit against the force," said the farmer who was attacked on his tractor.

On 21 January 2025, the Iraqi parliament voted on the three controversial laws: Amending the personal status law, the law to cancel the decisions of the Ba'ath Revolutionary Command Council, and the general amnesty law. The law to cancel the decisions of the Ba'ath Revolutionary Command Council is very important for the Kurds, as thousands of Dunams of occupied lands in the disputed areas will be returned to their original owners. On 13 February 2025, the Iraqi President Abdullatif Jamal Rashid approved the 3 laws.

Kirkuk is one of the territories disputed between the Iraqi Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, which are regions defined by Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution as being Arabised during the fallen Ba'ath regime's rule in the country.

Kurdish farmers in these regions often face threats of losing their regained agricultural land to resettled Arabs who took their lands during the Ba'ath regime's rule.

Click here to see the video of Iraqi soldiers beating the Kurdish farmers


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