ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Kurdistan Region Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Monday criticized the Iraqi military's attempt to prevent Kurdish farmers in northern Kirkuk from cultivating their lands, stating that such behavior is “contrary” to the Iraqi constitution.

Tensions erupted between Kurdish farmers and Iraqi army forces in northern Kirkuk’s Sargaran subdistrict on Monday morning after the forces surrounded the area, preventing the farmers from entering and cultivating their lands.

The escalation comes despite the recent passage of a law in the Iraqi parliament to return real estate properties confiscated under the previous Ba’ath regime to original Kurdish and Turkmen owners in areas that were subjected to the Arabization process.

"These behaviors of the Iraqi army are contrary to the constitution and the principles on which the new Iraq is built... and must be stopped as soon as possible" read a statement from the PMO on Monday.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) President Masoud Barzani has directed a message to the federal government in Baghdad, voicing his criticism of the army’s “unacceptable” and “illegal” actions, noting that they will do “whatever is necessary” to protect the legal and constitutional rights of the Kurdish farmers.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) also called on the federal government to prevent the army’s interventions, stressing that it is in violation of the land restitution law, and stating that it is the prime minister’s duty to assume the “national and constitutional responsibilities” of responding to the violations.

“The PUK believes that the army is not part of the internal problems and the issue of land and property disputes will never be resolved by the unjust use of force and attacks on citizens,” read a statement from the party’s politburo.

Shakhawan Abdullah, the Iraqi parliament’s second deputy speaker, said in a statement that he spoke with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and asked him to resolve the issue.

“Thankfully, he [Sudani] directed his military advisor Lieutenant General Abdul Karim al-Sudani to bring an end to the issue, and I also talked to Lieutenant General Abdul Karim later and he promised to intervene immediately,” wrote Abdullah.

The New Region has learned that the army has now withdrawn from the areas and that the farmers have called off their sit-in protests, granting Baghdad 48 hours to permanently resolve the issue.

The land restitution law, ratified by the Iraqi presidency last week, seeks to address property disputes stemming from resolutions enacted during the Ba’ath regime’s Revolutionary Command Council era. The regime transferred the ownership of hundreds of Kurdish and Turkmen properties in Kirkuk to the defense ministry and the municipality starting from the 1970’s.

Iraqi army forces have repeatedly prevented Kirkuk’s farmers from entering the areas in recent years, stating that the lands belong to the state.