LAST NEWS ABOUT KIRKUK/ KURDISTAN

[Anthea]

Newly discovered document outlines
Baath-era displacement of Kurds

A government entity tasked with dismantling the remnants of Iraq’s toppled Baath regime on Monday revealed documents detailing how the Baath forcibly displaced dozens of Kurdish and Turkmen families from the multiethnic province of Kirkuk, under the pretext of “security concerns.”

In a statement posted on Facebook, the Supreme National Commission for Accountability and Justice shared an image of a “historical document” that dates back to 1999. The document outlines “a systematic migration plan and forced evacuation operations” targeting Kurdish and Turkmen families during the rule of the Saddam Hussein-led Baath regime.

The Commission noted that the document details “the declared causes of deportations, the number of families and individuals affected and the fate of their belongings,” highlighting that alleged “security” concerns were the sole pretext cited for the forced displacement.

The document reveals five separate displacement orders issued between January 18 and August 16 of 1999. Each order involved the expulsion of dozens of Kurdish and Turkmen families from Kirkuk city, who were relocated to the Kurdistan Region’s eastern Sulaimani province.

According to the document, families were forced to leave within two to five days of the orders’ issuance. They were permitted to take their household furniture, but banned from bringing electrical appliances. Their real estate and other immovable possessions were confiscated and seized as “state property.”

These documents “aren't just numbers and dates - they represent real-life stories of families uprooted from their homes,” the Commission said, adding that the findings “serve as a reminder of the importance of documenting history to preserve collective memory and ensure past tragedies are never repeated.”

Historical context

In 1975, the Iraqi government declared several Kurdish villages in Kirkuk as prohibited oil zones, stripping residents of their land rights. Just two years later, the now-dissolved Baath Supreme Revolutionary Court Decree No. 949 redistributed the land to Arab settlers.

Under toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, the Baath regime’s Arabization policy intensified further with the aim of maintaining long-term control of Kirkuk’s vast oil reserves by altering its ethnic composition.

From the 1970s until the fall of the Baath regime in 2003, tens of Kurds, Turkmen and Assyrians were expelled from their homes and replaced with Arab families.

Although Iraq dissolved the Revolutionary Council after 2003, many of its decrees have not been formally repealed, including those tied to demographic engineering in disputed areas such as Kirkuk.

Reversing Baath-era policies

In 2005, Iraq introduced Article 140 to reverse the demographic engineering carried out under Baathist rule. However, progress has been slow and inconsistent.

Iraq’s parliament in January passed a land restitution law to return property confiscated from Kurds and Turkmen during the Baath era. Covering approximately 300,000 dunams (around 750 square kilometers) in Kirkuk and other disputed territories, the law builds on a July 2023 Council of Ministers decision to revoke Baath-era decrees.

Ratified in February, the legislation was championed by Kurdish and Turkmen political parties determined to undo decades of forced displacement. Much of the seized land was initially restricted for oil-related purposes and later reassigned to Arab settlers.

In March, the Iraqi justice ministry formed a special committee to oversee the law’s implementation and suspended all land dealings in Kirkuk. Justice Minister Khalid Shwani then promised that enforcement would begin within two months. However, local farmers say they are still waiting.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/010920252

[Anthea]

ISIS Resurgence Exploits
Security Gaps in Kirkuk

The specter of ISIS has returned to the rural outskirts of Kirkuk, where militants are exploiting a dangerous security vacuum between positions held by the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga and the Iraqi army

In just one month, armed ISIS fighters were sighted twice by villagers in the Shwan sub-district, heightening fear and underscoring the fragile security situation in the stolen territories outside the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) control since October 2017, when the traitor Bafel Talabani gave Kurdish land to Iraq.

Local residents say the encounters have been disturbingly direct, with militants demanding food from villagers. Farmers describe living under constant anxiety, their daily routines disrupted by insecurity.

Farhad Palkanayi, a local farmer, told Kurdistan 24 that the threat was “very true,” adding, “Our lives have changed since October 16th. Our ability to come and go has been only with God’s help.” He explained that villagers now rely on light signals as a makeshift warning system to alert each other to danger.

The gap between Peshmerga and Iraqi army positions has long been identified as a breeding ground for extremist activity. The Iraqi Parliament has called for joint deployments to fill the vacuum, but Baghdad has yet to approve the measure. Shakhawan Abdullah, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, said earlier appeals to move a regiment of the 20th Brigade into the area were ignored. He warned that the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq could prove a “major mistake and return Iraq to square one.”

Peshmerga officials have repeatedly offered to deploy along the disputed borderlands, but the proposals have been rejected by Baghdad. The consequences are evident: in the last six months, ISIS has mounted five separate attacks on Iraqi forces in Kirkuk’s border regions.

The instability is compounded by unresolved land disputes. Kurdish farmers in Kirkuk continue to face pressure from Arab settlers backed by state forces, invoking Ba’ath-era decrees to claim their land. The conflict stems from Saddam Hussein’s Arabization policies, which Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution was meant to reverse. Its stalled implementation, however, has left communities vulnerable to both legal intimidation and renewed violence.

KRG Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed recently stressed in Mosul that implementing Article 140 was “essential for justice, stability, and strengthening brotherhood among Iraq’s diverse ethnic and religious communities.” He also highlighted the unfulfilled Sinjar Agreement of 2020, designed to stabilize the Yezidi homeland, which remains a flashpoint preventing the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

Analysts warn that the lack of political resolution and coordinated security measures continues to create space for extremist activity. The recent sightings in Kirkuk underscore that while ISIS’s territorial “caliphate” was dismantled, the group’s ideology and capacity to terrorize remain entrenched. For Kurdish farmers in disputed territories, the failure to address these core issues leaves them on the frontline—forced to keep watch in the dark against a threat that should have long been extinguished.

https://www.basnews.com/en/babat/893707

[Anthea]

Iraq Vows Half-Trillion Dinar Support for Farmers
Amid Cries of Land Stolen From Kurds

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – In a sweeping announcement aimed at bolstering Iraq's agricultural heartland, the Iraqi Ministry of Trade has declared that half a trillion dinars will be distributed to support farmers across all provinces, a move the central government says is designed to empower producers, enhance food security, and strengthen the national economy

Yet, for thousands of Kurdish farmers in the Kurdistani territories outside the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) administrative control, this grand promise from Baghdad stands in stark and bitter contrast to the menacing reality unfolding in their fields, where they face not government support, but state-backed intimidation, land seizures, and a systematic campaign of dispossession that leaves them wondering which to believe—the government's solemn oath or the tell-tale signs on the ground.

The official announcement from Baghdad painted a picture of a new era of government support for a vital sector. Iraqi Minister of Trade, Atheer Dawood al-Ghurairi, stated that the Prime Minister had personally approved the allocation of 500 billion dinars as part of an effort to "boost agricultural production."

He emphasized that "the decision aims to empower farmers and provide the resources needed to advance the agricultural sector."

This message was reinforced by Haider al-Karaawi, the Director General of the General Company for Grain Trading, who promised a "transparent and fair mechanism for distributing the funds" and framed the support as "an important step toward boosting farmers' confidence and encouraging them to increase their production."

For the farmers of the Kurdistan Region, who are set to receive their share of the funds, the payment is a welcome, if delayed, part of the annual agricultural cycle. Nawzad Sheikh Kamil, the Director General of Trade for the Kurdistan Region, confirmed to Kurdistan24 that the distribution has begun, though it will arrive in installments due to the later harvest season in the north

But beyond the straightforward logistics of these payments, the chasm between Baghdad's rhetoric of empowerment and the lived experience of Kurdish farmers in areas like Kirkuk and Khurmatu has become a painful and defining feature of their daily existence.

While ministry officials in the capital speak of boosting confidence, Kurdish farmers in the village of Tapa Sawz in the Khurmatu district, just to refer to an instance among many, are facing arrest warrants for daring to defend their ancestral properties from seizure

As previously reported by Kurdistan24, this village has become a flashpoint in what residents describe as a renewed and systematic campaign of Arabization.

In a tense standoff in late August, Arab settlers, supported by the Iraqi army, attempted to occupy 1,800 donums of farmland belonging to local Kurdish families, presenting defunct contracts issued during the former Baath regime as legal justification.

The collective and successful refusal of the Kurdish farmers to yield only shifted the confrontation from the fields to the courts. In a move seen as blatant legal coercion, arrest warrants were issued for four Kurdish landowners, with the court demanding they surrender themselves, sign a pledge, and ultimately relinquish their lands.

"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," one of the targeted farmers declared in an act of unwavering defiance, issuing a direct appeal to Kurdish officials to intervene

This is not an isolated incident. Ahmed Jumaa, the representative of the Tapa Sawz farmers, recounted a painful history of displacement and a legal assault that has intensified since the events of October 2017.

Critically, he revealed that the farmers possess an official letter from the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture stating that their land falls under Article 140 of the Constitution and that ownership should revert to its pre-Baathist status.

This highlights a profound and dangerous disconnect, where one branch of the Iraqi state appears to uphold the farmers' rights on paper, while another, the security forces, actively supports those seeking to dispossess them on the ground.

This pattern of pressure is a persistent and troubling reality across the Kurdistani territories outside the KRG’s administration.

In May, Kurdish farmers in Kirkuk reported that military units were actively preventing them from working their land and harvesting their crops, even on farms that were officially included in the Iraqi government's own wheat subsidy program.

In another case, a Kirkuk court sentenced a Kurdish farmer, Ibrahim Tobzawayi, to a six-month suspended prison term after the Iraqi army filed a complaint against him for the simple act of building a house on his own ancestral land.

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

President Masoud Barzani has warned that the scenes of harassment "remind us of the Anfal, chemical attacks, and genocide committed against our people."

Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has been equally vocal, stating that these regions are "not disputed; they are occupied and separated territories" and reaffirming the KRG's unwavering commitment to defending farmers' rights through constitutional means.

This long and painful struggle is a direct legacy of the systematic Arabization policies of Saddam Hussein's regime, policies that Article 140 of the 2005 Iraqi Constitution was specifically designed to reverse.

The perpetual stalling of its implementation has left land ownership in a legal limbo that is continuously and violently exploited. As the farmers of Tapa Sawz brace for their legal battle, and as their counterparts across Kirkuk face intimidation in their fields, the grand announcement of half a trillion dinars of support from Baghdad resonates with a hollow and bitter irony.

For them, the promise of empowerment from the capital feels a world away, overshadowed by the immediate and tangible threat of dispossession, a threat often carried out under the watchful eyes of the very state now claiming to be their greatest champion.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/86 ... -in-kirkuk

[Anthea]

Kirkuk Truckers Stalled by Delays
and Double Customs Fees

Truck drivers passing through Kirkuk say they continue to face long delays, repeated customs fees, and congestion at checkpoints, as the province struggles with overlapping security and administrative systems nearly eight years after Iraqi forces stole control from Kurdish authorities with the help of the traitor Bafel Talabani

Drivers told Kurdistan 24 that while entering Iraq through official border crossings poses no difficulties, moving goods from the Kurdistan Region into Kirkuk often results in duplicate customs duties. “When we come from the Kurdistan Region, they make us pay customs again at Kirkuk’s checkpoints,” one driver said. Another complained that checkpoint officers harass drivers to extract payments.

Compounding the problem is a shortage of inspection equipment. Only one sonar scanner is available at the Chiman checkpoint and another at Daraman on the Erbil road, causing lengthy queues and hours of waiting for truck drivers. The delays have raised costs for traders and slowed the movement of goods in and out of the province.

Kirkuk Governor Ribwar Taha acknowledged the problem, saying a new mechanism would be implemented from October 1, to ease bottlenecks. “A new mechanism has been set and agreed upon … which will significantly reduce or eliminate the problems and difficulties of these vehicles,” he said at a press conference.

The difficulties are also tied to the complex security landscape in Kirkuk. Three separate security forces, each operating under different ministries, are stationed at the checkpoints, often applying overlapping or conflicting procedures.

These problems date back to October 16, 2017, when Iraqi forces with the help of the traitor Bafel Talabani stole control of Kirkuk following the independence referendum organized by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Since then, disputes over administrative authority, customs collection, and security responsibilities have persisted

The issue of customs duplication has long been a source of friction between Baghdad and Erbil. While the federal government claims the sole right to collect duties, the KRG also levies customs at its own borders, leaving traders and truck drivers caught in the middle. Previous visits by representatives of the Iraqi prime minister had raised hopes of a resolution, but drivers say little has changed on the ground.

Kirkuk, home to Kurds, Turkmen and Arab thieves, remains one of Iraq’s most disputed and volatile provinces. The unresolved status of the region has contributed to overlapping layers of governance, making routine trade and transport more difficult for local businesses.

https://www.basnews.com/en/babat/895097

[Anthea]

Kurdish Parties in Kirkuk Reach
Agreement Ahead of Elections

Kurdish political parties and factions in Kirkuk met on Tuesday to discuss the city’s situation and preparations for the upcoming Iraqi parliamentary elections, reaching agreement on a five-point framework to guide their approach

The meeting, held at the headquarters of the Kurdistan Communist Party’s Kirkuk branch, lasted about ninety minutes and concluded with a joint statement outlining shared commitments.

According to the statement, the parties agreed that election campaigns should be conducted in a civilized, calm, and responsible manner, free from provocation and mutual denigration.

They also stressed the importance of preserving stability in the city and protecting the lives and safety of its citizens.

Further points included calls to deepen the spirit of brotherhood and peaceful coexistence among Kirkuk’s diverse communities, encouraging voters to prepare for active participation in the elections, and urging the local administration to improve services for residents, noting that “the people of Kirkuk deserve more service.”

Following the meeting, Mohammed Kamal, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s third branch in Kirkuk, told a press conference that some individuals had settled in the city despite not having population records there.

He called on the local and federal governments to coordinate efforts to return these people to their original places, while clarifying that there was “no problem with the original people of Kirkuk and its districts and sub-districts.”

Kirkuk, an oil-rich and ethnically diverse city, has long been a flashpoint in Iraqi politics, claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region.

Tensions over land ownership, administrative control, and demographic changes have frequently fueled disputes among Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen.

In recent years, Kurdish parties have sought to maintain unity in approaching elections in Kirkuk, where competition among ethnic and political groups remains intense.

The upcoming parliamentary vote is seen as a key test of their ability to preserve influence in the disputed province while promoting coexistence among its communities.

https://www.basnews.com/en/babat/895796

The Home Stealing, Land Stealing, Business Stealing Arabs should NOT have a Vote in Kirkuk

[Anthea]

Farmers in Kirkuk Border Villages
Report Blockade by Iraqi Army

Farmers in five villages along the border of Kirkuk province say they are once again being blocked from their fields by Iraqi military forces, an occurrence they describe as “annual” and deeply frustrating during key planting and weeding season

Mohammed Ismail, speaking from the Shenagha border area, told Kurdistan 24 that the army has “besieged our villages and is preventing farmers from doing their work,” echoing similar incidents in past years.

He pointed out that although the Iraqi Council of Ministers has issued official letters affirming farmers’ rights to access disputed land plots, those directives are going unheeded. “The army does not abide by these letters and does not implement the law,” Ismail said, calling on authorities to intervene before the situation worsens.

Another local resident described further measures by security forces: harassing farmers, cutting electricity, closing water wells, and generally blocking farming activity in every possible way. The timing is critical — it is the season when lands should be cultivated, but many farmers remain locked out of their plots.

These complaints echo longstanding tensions in Kirkuk’s Sargaran (also spelled Serqeran) subdistrict, where Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen farmers have contested landownership roots dating to Baathist-era policies of Arabization.

Kurdish farmers say that vast tracts of their ancestral land were transferred under state contracts to Arab settlers; though Iraq’s Parliament recently passed a law to annul those older decrees, enforcement and implementation remain incomplete

Earlier this year, the army deployed along farmlands in the same region to prevent Kurdish farmers from planting wheat, citing unresolved land disputes. One farmer, Ahmed Aziz, told Rudaw that he was told outright that some lands “belong to the state” rather than to farmers claiming them.

Courts in Al-Dibis district have also postponed rulings in cases brought by Kurdish farmers in Shenagha and Sharshakh, despite their claims of generational land ownership. Meanwhile, in September 2025, a Kirkuk court handed a four-month sentence to a Kurdish farmer accused of obstructing a settler, even though the land in question had been claimed by the farmer’s family.

Kirkuk Governor Rebwar Taha has said the local government is committed to resolving the agricultural land issues “as per law,” and that misconduct against farmers should end. He noted the land restitution law has been officially published, which is expected to bring dispute resolution within the next weeks or months. But in practice, farmers in places like Shenagha remain caught in a legal and security limbo.

The pattern of military interference despite new legal safeguards has alarmed farmers and local officials alike. Should this blockade continue through the planting season, it threatens both agricultural productivity and the fragile trust between communities, security forces, and government institutions across Kirkuk’s conflicted lands.

https://www.basnews.com/en/babat/896879

[Anthea]

Kirkuk voters voice frustration
skepticism ahead of Iraqi elections

Many residents of disputed Kirkuk say they have lost faith in Iraq’s political class ahead of the November parliamentary elections, voicing frustration over corruption, neglect, and unfulfilled promises in a province where ethnic divisions and land disputes continue to shape politics

As part of Rudaw’s election coverage, the network’s program Who is Stronger (Ke Baheza in Kurdish) captures spontaneous reactions and reflections from potential voters across Iraq. In an area near the historic Kirkuk Citadel, north of the city, Rudaw spoke to dozens of residents to hear their thoughts on the elections, nearly two weeks into the start of campaigning for the vote.

“None of them owns up to their provinces, none of them is doing it for a Kurdish cause. All of it is for their pockets,” an elderly Kurdish man told Rudaw's Hevidar Ahmed, while playing dominoes with his friends.

“I am very upset… with all of them [political parties],” he added, expressing his disappointment with the parties’ record of service in the province.

The federal elections are seen as particularly significant for Kirkuk, with the potential to shift the balance of power between Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen factions vying for control of the multi-ethnic, oil-rich province. Campaigning often centers on communal rhetoric rather than policy platforms.

The outcome could shape the long-stalled implementation of Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, which outlines a process for normalization and a referendum to determine whether Kirkuk will join the Kurdistan Region or remain under Baghdad’s administration.

Political deadlock has long paralyzed the province’s governance, with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and Arab and Turkmen parties divided over the governorship and key administrative posts.

“Everyone wants money. If they pay, we will vote; if they do not pay, we will not vote,” said another person.

In a recent interview with Rudaw, former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi warned that the upcoming elections would be heavily influenced by the misuse of state resources and vote-buying, suggesting that financial power, rather than popularity, would determine outcomes.

“Not just for money - I will not sell my Kurdishness for the whole world,” a young man contested. “How can one sell his language [identity]?”

“I will vote for whoever is just for the Kurdish people,” a middle-aged man said, but he noted that “so far, nothing has been done for Kirkuk city.”

Political impasse has left Kirkuk’s provincial council unable to convene regularly, and administrative vacancies have hindered public services, leaving many neighborhoods in limbo.

“I want the Kurdish people to hold their heads high… they [the PUK and KDP] are strong,” said another man. “To everyone, gather your votes. Do not waste your votes - you will be guilty on the day of judgment.”

After months of wrangling, the PUK assumed the governor’s post in August 2024 after a disputed vote in Baghdad, where a coalition of PUK, Arab, and Christian council members appointed Rebwar Taha on the party’s ticket. The session was boycotted by the KDP and the Turkmen Front, who deemed it illegal, though the Iraqi Presidency later confirmed the appointment. His predecessor, Rakan al-Jabouri, had served as acting governor from 2017, after the Iraqi federal government retook Kirkuk from Kurdish forces, until his disqualification from the upcoming elections over corruption-related lawsuits.

“The PUK is stronger in Kirkuk - we will get 60 seats!” a tea seller shouted, prompting cheers from his customers, who sat beneath PUK posters.

“We will not vote for Arabs at all, that is out of the question,” said an elderly customer, explaining that many voters have fixed loyalties that remain unchanged regardless of party performance.

“You want the truth? Mr. Rebwar [Taha, governor of Kirkuk] has done service for us. By God, he is a top-grade governor,” another man responded.

“What has the PUK done?” the elderly man countered.

“What has the KDP done [for us]?” the other man responded.

Disputed lands in Kirkuk

The village of Palkana in Kirkuk’s Sargaran subdistrict has been a flashpoint for recurring land disputes between Kurdish farmers and Arab settlers, particularly since Iraqi federal forces retook the province in 2017. The tensions trace back to the Baath regime’s Arabization policies of the 1970s, which transferred ownership of Kurdish and Turkmen lands to Arab settlers.

“I swear to God, they [the Iraqi army] do not take our side,” an Arab resident of Palkana told Rudaw. “If a Kurd comes to me with proof that the land is his, I will hand it over and leave immediately. But he does not have anything [proof of ownership].”

Iraq’s land restitution law, passed in February, aims to reverse Baath-era seizures of over 300,000 dunams from Kurdish and Turkmen owners in Kirkuk and other disputed areas. However, its implementation has stalled as the Council of Ministers has yet to issue the required regulations. As a result, Kurdish farmers continue to face obstruction, lawsuits, and arrests by the Iraqi army.

“Whoever has weapons is the one who is powerful,” a Kurdish man said, overlooking fields they claim ownership to.

Another agreed, saying Arabs and the Iraqi army hold power in the area. “But we can win through elections, and we will prove that we are stronger.”

The group of Kurdish men said the Iraqi army recently warned them not to work on their farmland.

“Our allegiances are to political parties, not our nationality,” another man said. “If Kurds are united, no one can defeat us, only God [can].”

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/151020251

Arabs have NO right to vote in Kirkuk, they are lowlife THIEVES

[Anthea]

Kurdish Farmers Warn of
Renewed Arabization in Stolen Areas

Kurdish farmers in areas outside the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) administrative control—particularly in Kirkuk—are facing mounting pressure amid what many describe as a new wave of Arabization aimed at displacing Kurdish communities and undermining their agricultural livelihoods

These are the areas the traitor Bafel Talabani gave to Iraq

Local farmers say they are enduring a systematic campaign of harassment, including restricted access to water, repeated detentions, and deliberate sabotage of irrigation systems. The increasing intimidation, they say, is part of an organized effort to drive them from their ancestral lands through exhaustion and fear.

Footage obtained by Kurdistan 24 shows Kurdish farmers in Kirkuk struggling to repair irrigation pipes that have been intentionally destroyed multiple times. Working under harsh conditions, they continue their efforts without official support or protection.

Mohammed, a farmer from Shanagha village, told the report that he has been detained four times this year by Iraqi security forces, including both the army and police.

“They keep us for two or three days, then release us on bail,” he said. “But the harassment never stops. They want us to give up the land and leave.”

Other farmers have described a pattern of intimidation involving the destruction of irrigation systems, restrictions on water sources, and obstacles preventing them from reaching their farmland. Many see these acts as part of a calculated plan to erode Kurdish agricultural presence in the disputed/stolen territories through bureaucratic and logistical means rather than overt violence.

Despite the growing pressures, farmers say they are determined to stay. “Our dignity lies in our land,” said Jouhar Rahman, a farmer from the area. “If you do not defend your land, you have no dignity.” Another farmer said daily life has become unbearable under continuous security and economic pressure but vowed they “will not leave, no matter how harsh the circumstances become.”

The ongoing tensions evoke memories of the Arabization policies implemented under Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath regime, when thousands of Kurdish and Turkmen families were forcibly displaced from Kirkuk and nearby districts. Arab settlers were relocated to those areas in a state-led effort to alter the region’s demographic composition.

Observers now warn that similar tactics are re-emerging through administrative and security measures. Instead of forced displacement, today’s approach allegedly relies on bureaucratic, agricultural, and infrastructural restrictions to gradually diminish Kurdish control and population density in rural Kirkuk and other disputed zones. Analysts describe this as a modern form of demographic engineering, subtle but no less damaging to the social and cultural fabric of the area.

Kurdish political leaders continue to stress that the only long-term solution lies in implementing Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, which mandates the normalization of conditions in Kirkuk and other disputed territories, followed by a census and a referendum to determine their final administrative status.

“Our electoral program focuses on ending the legacy of the Revolutionary Command Council’s decisions, restoring property to its rightful owners, and implementing Article 140 to ensure justice and end demographic manipulation,”

For now, residents of the Kurdistani territories outside KRG control are placing cautious hope in the upcoming elections, viewing them as a possible step toward constitutional justice and the restoration of their rights to land and identity.

As arrests continue and irrigation networks are repeatedly destroyed, Kurdish farmers remain defiant, believing that their persistence will outlast this new phase of Arabization. Many express a deep conviction that justice—though delayed—will ultimately return their land to its legitimate owners.

https://www.basnews.com/en/babat/897488

Please somebody arrest the traitor Bafel Talabani

[Anthea]

Arab Settlers, Backed by Iraqi Army
Attempt to Seize Kurdish Lands in Kirkuk

A group of Arab settlers, supported by Iraqi army units, attempted to seize Kurdish-owned lands in Mansour village of Haftagar subdistrict in Kirkuk province, sparking clashes with local farmers, witnesses and residents said on Saturday

When villagers resisted the takeover, soldiers accompanying the settlers reportedly assaulted several young men and verbally abused residents, according to testimonies obtained by local reporters.

Farmer Hawri Fadel called for an urgent solution, accusing local officials of corruption. “They pay money to government institutions that take bribes. The army came here heavily armed — do you see a single Kurd carrying a weapon? We only want our own land; we don’t covet anyone else’s,” he told local media.

The disputed (stolen) lands are officially registered as Kurdish property but are being cultivated by Arab settlers. In Daqoq, the Kirkuk Agriculture Directorate and local agricultural departments have reportedly renewed 50 contracts for incoming Arab settlers on Kurdish-owned lands, despite official orders to halt such renewals

Landowner Jum’a Fakhreddin, who holds a deed for 30 donums, said his property was taken by force. “Since 2003, this land has been in my possession, inherited from our fathers and grandfathers. Our deed was issued in 1970,” he said.

“Arab settlers came to plow my land by force. I’m not the only one suffering — all the villagers around me face the same, some even worse. There’s an arrest warrant against me, and I’ve been sentenced to two years in prison for no reason,” Fakhreddin added.

Despite two official letters from the Kirkuk administration instructing the Agriculture Directorate not to renew the contracts of Arab settlers, the director continues to do so, sources said.

Shakar Mardan, the lawyer representing Kurdish farmers, confirmed that 50 contracts have been renewed unlawfully. “The most serious violation is the failure to comply with Law No. 3 of 2025,” he said, adding that “the governorate issued two formal letters demanding the suspension of these procedures, yet the renewals continue.”

In Dibis, Sargaran, Tirkalan, and Daqoq, Arab settlers have occupied Kurdish lands under contracts dating back 55 years, during the Arabization campaigns of the former Ba’ath regime, while agricultural authorities refuse to recognize Kurdish ownership deeds.

Abdullah Mirowais, head of the Agriculture Committee in the Kirkuk Provincial Council, said such disputes are recurring in “Tirkalan, Yayji, and Sargaran,” emphasizing the need for law enforcement to resolve them.

He urged Kurdish representatives in Baghdad — ministers and members of parliament — to “make serious efforts to reinstate directives from the State Shura Council and obtain the prime minister’s approval.”

During the fifth session of the Iraqi Parliament, lawmakers passed a law annulling the decisions of the former Ba’ath Revolutionary Command Council, which had been used to justify Arab settlement in Kurdish areas. However, the law has yet to be implemented, leaving longstanding land disputes unresolved.

https://www.basnews.com/en/babat/897672

[Anthea]

VP Barzani Vows to Reclaim Disputed (stolen) Territories

Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Vice President Masrour Barzani has vowed that all disputed Kurdish territories will “return to the embrace of the homeland,” reaffirming his party’s commitment to defending the constitutional rights of the Kurdish people

Speaking on Saturday, during a campaign rally for the KDP in Kirkuk and Garmian, VP Barzani is declaring that “Kirkuk, Khanqin, Makhmur, Zummar, and Sinjar must all return to Kurdistan. Not an inch of this land should remain under the control of an occupier.”

He is emphasizing that the Kurdistan Democratic Party will “certainly return Kirkuk to the embrace of Kurdistan,” pledging to implement Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution and all other provisions related to Kurdish rights.

He accuses some political forces of neglecting these constitutional articles and insists that “this time, our battle in the Iraqi Parliament will be for the full and fair implementation of the constitution without discrimination.”

Highlighting the KDP’s record of governance, Masrour Barzani is stating that the party’s achievements across the Kurdistan Region—from infrastructure to digital services—prove its ability to serve Kirkuk and other disputed territories.

“Kirkuk lives on a sea of oil, yet still lacks basic services. Trust us so that we can develop Kirkuk like all other cities of Kurdistan,” he tells supporters.

He is also criticizing previous Kurdish representatives in Baghdad for making “secret agreements” that served personal and partisan interests rather than defending Kurdish rights, adding that this election is crucial for the KDP to “protect the constitutional rights of all the people of Kurdistan and Iraq.”

The Kurdish leader called for unity and mass participation in the upcoming elections, urging citizens to help the KDP secure one million votes

“When the Party wills it, it can do it, because what it has said, it has done,” he declares.

He further reiterates the party’s inclusive vision for Iraq, saying, “We defend the rights of all nations, not just Kurds, but Arabs, Turkmens, Christians, and all components of society.”

He stresses that the KDP’s goal is to establish justice, equality, and genuine coexistence across Iraq, while warning against any attempts to undermine the federal system or revert to centralism and dictatorship.

VP Barzani concludes by calling on voters—especially youth and women—to participate actively in the elections and support KDP candidates. “Go and vote for the Kurdistan Democratic Party, towards victory and a successful election,” he says.

The rally marks part of the KDP’s wider campaign push across the Kurdistan Region ahead of the upcoming Iraqi parliamentary elections, as the party seeks to reinforce its dominance and advocate for the long-disputed Kurdish territories.

https://www.basnews.com/en/babat/897656

THEY MUST ARREST THE TRAITOR BAFEL TALABANI

[Anthea]

Kurdish leaders urge displaced voters
return home for Iraqi elections

Kurdish political leaders and officials in Kirkuk and Nineveh are urging internally displaced persons (IDPs) to return to their home provinces and participate in Iraq’s upcoming elections, warning that failure to do so could weaken Kurdish representation in parliament

In October 2017, Iraqi federal forces with the help of the traitor Bafel Talabani, took control of the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, along with parts of Nineveh and other disputed areas that had been held by Kurdish Peshmerga since the 2014 war against the Islamic State (ISIS). Thousands of Kurds fled to the Kurdistan Region for safety, and many have since settled there.

However, Iraq’s electoral law requires citizens to cast their ballots in their province of origin, meaning these IDPs must return home to vote.

Shakhawan Abdullah, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) electoral list in Kirkuk and the second deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw that the return of displaced Kurdish voters is a “fateful issue” for the province’s future.

“It is very important for those people to return [and cast their votes],” Abdullah said, warning that if they don’t, “a catastrophe will occur for Kurds, because the number of voters will decrease in the province.”

He estimated that “around 100,000 displaced Kurds [from Kirkuk] should return to vote.”

Kirkuk is represented by 12 of Iraq’s 329 parliamentary seats. In the October 2021 elections, Kurds won six of those seats. Abdullah cautioned that lower Kurdish turnout this time could upset the province’s political balance.

“Our common goal with the parties is to increase the seats,” he said. “In the worst-case scenario, Kurds will strive to regain the six seats. If Kurdish seats are reduced, the balance of power will crumble, which is not in the Kurds’ interests at all.”

Meanwhile, Kirkuk Governor Rebwar Taha, who heads the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) electoral list in the province, appealed for unity among Kurdish voters.

“I call on the communities of Kirkuk not to throw away and not burn their votes, don't vote for a list that, as they say, cannot win a seat,” he said, stressing that the Kurdish parties’ “speaking against each other and weakening each other is not beneficial for Kirkuk or our nation. Both parties are against the situation worsening - we need to set aside partisan interests.”

“I call on the people of Kirkuk not to throw away or waste their votes. Don’t vote for a list that cannot win a seat,” he said, stressing that infighting between Kurdish parties only weakens their position. “Speaking against each other is not beneficial for Kirkuk or our nation. Both parties oppose worsening the situation - we need to set aside partisan interests.”

Similar appeals have been made in Nineveh province

Mohammed Kakayi, head of the PUK’s bloc within the Nineveh provincial council, told Rudaw that more than 40,000 Kurds from Nineveh currently live in the Kurdistan Region, not counting those in displacement camps.

“The Kurdish parties in Nineveh, particularly the KDP and PUK, are working to encourage our [displaced] compatriots to return and vote on election day,” Kakayi said.

He added that the Kurdish parties’ officials have coordinated with security checkpoints between Nineveh, Erbil and Duhok to facilitate voter movement on election day.

He added that party officials have coordinated with security checkpoints between Nineveh, Erbil, and Duhok to facilitate voter movement and “have set up three [hotline] numbers to assist Kurdish families facing obstacles.”

Kakayi noted that Arab voter turnout in Nineveh is expected to rise significantly this year, especially in Mosul, where participation was low in 2021.

Nawzad Hadi, head of the KDP’s organizational bureau in Nineveh, also urged displaced Kurds to return and vote to “maintain the balance of power” through strong participation.

Iraq is set to hold its upcoming legislative elections on November 11.

According to Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission, 31 political alliances, 38 parties, 23 independents, and 56 minority candidates will compete in the upcoming elections. A total of 7,768 candidates - 5,520 men and 2,248 women - are running for 329 parliamentary seats, including nine reserved for minorities.

More than 39,000 polling stations will open across 8,703 centers for the general vote, with an additional 4,501 stations for special voting and 97 for displaced persons in and around camps in the Kurdistan Region.

About 27 million Iraqis are eligible to vote, though only those with biometric voter cards will be allowed to cast ballots.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/26102025

[Anthea]

Kirkuk Music Group To Perform in US

Kirkuk’s Authentic Nations Music Group will soon embark on a tour of the United States to perform a series of concerts that celebrate the city’s cultural diversity and rich musical heritage

Known for preserving and presenting traditional Kurdish, Turkmen, and Arabic maqams, the group is scheduled to perform several works in Washington D.C., showcasing the unique blend of sounds that define Kirkuk’s identity. Their performances are intended to highlight the coexistence of different ethnic communities in the city, using music as a bridge for peace and mutual understanding.

The visit, made at the official invitation of the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, aims to introduce international audiences to Kirkuk’s authentic art scene and strengthen cultural ties between Iraq and the United States. The concerts are expected to attract strong interest from members of the Kurdish and Iraqi diaspora, as well as American listeners eager to experience traditional Middle Eastern music.

The disputed Kurdish province of Kirkuk has long been known as a mosaic of cultures where Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, and Christians have lived side by side for generations. Its musical traditions reflect this diversity, blending instruments, rhythms, and melodies from various ethnic heritages.

For example, in 2025 a statue was unveiled in Kirkuk’s Cultural Center to honour Turkmen singer Habe, noted for his mastery of multiple maqam traditions and his popularity among both Turkmen and Kurdish communities.

Over the years, Kirkuk’s rich musical scene has also included recordings by minority and regional artists who challenged political constraints. One study notes that the 20th-century rise of Kurdish music in Iraq included contributions from artists in Kirkuk who navigated censorship and imprisonment to preserve their heritage.

Meanwhile, despite political tensions, the city has made efforts toward cultural inclusion: in August 2024 the Kirkuk governor mandated the use of Turkmen and Syriac languages alongside Arabic and Kurdish in official communications, as a “confirmation of the identity of Kirkuk and the diversity of its esteemed components”.

The group’s upcoming performances follow the successful visit of the Kamkars, another acclaimed Kurdish ensemble, underscoring the growing international recognition of authentic Iraqi and Kurdish music. Through these tours, Iraqi musicians are increasingly serving as cultural ambassadors, using art to communicate messages of coexistence, unity, and pride in the region’s shared heritage.

https://www.basnews.com/en/babat/897840