ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kirkuk agriculture directorate has instructed its branches to stop renewing contracts for lands seized under the former regime’s northern affairs decisions, in a move affecting nearly 1,250 square kilometers of landacross the province.
An official document issued on Thursday by the general directorate of agriculture in Kirkuk was sent to agricultural departments in Altun Kupri, Shwan, Sargaran, Yaychi, Qarahanjir, and the Kirkuk central district. It orders the cancellation of land contracts covered by Decision No. 29 of 2012.
The Iraqi government’s Decision No. 29 of 2012 annulled land transfer decisions carried out for seizure purposes in disputed territories between the federal government and the Kurdistan regional Government (KRG) under the former regime’s northern affairs bureau.
Abdullah Mirwais, head of the agriculture committee in the Kirkuk provincial council, told Rudaw that the decision applies to agricultural lands totaling between 460,000 and 500,000 dunams in those areas. A dunam is 2,500 square meters.
Land disputes between Arab settlers and Kurdish farmers in Kirkuk and surrounding areas date back to the Baath era under the toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
According to Mirwais, the lands must be returned to their original owners, noting that some of the areas are predominantly Kurdish, while others have mixed Kurdish and Arab populations.