Kurdish leader criticizes silence on Arabization policy

Shafaq News/ A Kurdish leader on Thursday criticized the silence of Kurdish presidents and ministers on the Arabization policy that has been imposed on Kurdish-majority areas outside the Kurdistan Region, and the failure to implement Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution.

Mullah Bakhtiar, a senior member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), said in a video statement that he believes that the Iraqi government is not interested in implementing Article 140, hinting at underlying plans to continue the Arabization of Kurdish areas.

"The Iraqi government does not want to implement Article 140," Bakhtiar said. "This is part of a chauvinistic mentality mixed with a new sectarian mentality. There are a number of Arab and Sunni tribes that want to implement a new Arabization mechanism in the region."

"This shows that it was necessary to implement the provisions of Article 140 more than ten years ago. We are now seeing a number of villages in the outskirts of Khanaqin and even villages in Makhmour suffering from a program to Arabize them by emptying Kurdish villages. This is a danger that we must pay attention to."

Bakhtiar said that there are plans in Kirkuk to obstruct the implementation of Article 140 and prevent the return of Kirkuk and Khanaqin to Kurdistan. He said that he has met with senior officials in Baghdad, including former Iraqi President Fuad Masum, who have told him that Article 140 was drafted hastily and should be abolished.

Bakhtiar called on the people of Kirkuk, Khanaqin, Nineveh, and Saladin to put aside their grievances and participate in the elections. He said that it is the responsibility of Kurdish leaders to stand up for the rights of the Kurdish people.

"We had to stand up to the Arabization policy and the failure to implement Article 140," Bakhtiar said. "The leaders of the parties owe this to the sacrifices of this people.

"Daesh was founded to disrupt the situation in Mosul, Kirkuk, and Diyala," Bakhtiar said. "They knew that those areas are part of Kurdistan, so they transferred their activities to those areas. I left my city of Khanaqin in the 1970s as a result of the Arabization policy that was imposed on Khanaqin. Arabization was the cause of the struggle of many of us and the sacrifices of many of us."

Bakhtiar concluded by saying that he hopes that the people of Khanaqin, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Saladin will bury the dreams of the new Arabization policy by participating in the elections and voting for candidates who have served the Kurdish cause with integrity and have not been tainted by corruption.

He also hoped that the provincial councils will become a shield for the implementation of Article 140 and the end of the Arabization files and policies.