ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraq's Second Deputy Parliament Speaker Shakhawan Abdullah on Monday said the head of the agriculture department in Kirkuk province has illegally renewed contracts for activities on disputed lands in the area and must face legal measures. coming as Kurdish farmers in the area claim Arab settlers have been plowing their fields while they are banned from accessing them.

Iraqi military forces have repeatedly prevented Kirkuk’s farmers from entering the areas in recent years, stating that the lands belong to the state. Baghdad had ordered a halt to all activity on the lands until a resolution was reached.

“Although I sent a letter from the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture to all administrative officials in the border units of Kirkuk Governorate and other Kurdish areas, indicating that agricultural contracts for those lands will not be renewed and any action on those lands is prohibited, the Director General of Kirkuk Agriculture has not adequately adhered to that decision and is illegally continuing to renew contracts,” Abdullah said. “Legal and administrative action must be taken against him.”

Farmers in the area told The New Region on Monday that Arab settlers are plowing their fields and digging wells in broad daylight and in plain view of the Iraqi army while they are banned from accessing them.

Tensions erupted in February after Iraqi forces prevented farmers in northern Kirkuk’s Sargaran subdistrict from entering and cultivating their lands.

The escalation came 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.

In another episode in early 2024, Iraqi army forces were stationed in Kirkuk’s Newroz neighborhood for several weeks, during which they seized multiple Kurdish homes and ordered the families to vacate, claiming the neighborhood was the official property of the defense ministry.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has repeatedly said it will push for the implementation of Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution to bring back the disputed lands to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) administration during the ongoing election campaign for the federal parliament.

Article 140 mandates a process to outline a clear and definitive boundary in the disputed areas by introducing a referendum to determine the will of the residents living on the lands. The implementation of the article has been continuously delayed by the Iraqi federal government.

On October 16, 2017, the Kurds lost control over Kirkuk and other disputed territories after a military offensive by the Iraqi government was conducted in the province, bringing it under the rule of Baghdad. The Kurdish authorities have continuously pledged the eventual return of the lost territory.