SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The high committee that used to be responsible to implement contentious Article 140 of the Iraqi constitutions, dealing with the disputed territories between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and The Federal Government has been reestablished, commencing its works shortly, said a Minister on Monday.
Khalid Shwani, the Iraqi Minister of Justice announced that the high committee of implementation of Article 140 has been reestablished following a demand that was recently made by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
The Committee will begin its works in the next ten days in the frame of the new Iraqi government and in accordance with a political agreement between the parties and the negotiation team of the PUK led by President of the Party Bafel Talabani, according to Shwani’s words.
The committee has been “paralyzed” since 2014. “The implementation of article 140 will takes its own previous path,” Shwani said.
Article 140 was specially written to address the issue of the disputed territories between the KRG and the Iraqi government after the fall of the Baath regime.
The former Baath regime implemented Arabization campaigns in Kirkuk province and other disputed areas in Nineveh, Saladin, and Diyala, forcing Kurdish and Turkmen inhabitants to flee.
After the fall of the Baath regime in 2003 and within the framework of Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, the lands were given back to their Kurdish and Turkmen owners when the Arabs left the areas voluntarily.
Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution was supposed to have resolved the issue of the disputed areas by 2007, but successive governments have failed to implement the steps outlined in the provision.
Since the federal government retook control of Kirkuk and other disputed areas from Kurdish forces in October 2017 have again been subjected to Arabization, Arabs have been brought to settle in Kurdish areas in Kirkuk.
The areas became disputed between the two sides since it has been claimed by both of them, the KRG and the Iraqi government.
According to Article 140, normalization in disputed territories, including Kirkuk, must go through three phases: Members of the diaspora must be allowed to return and people not native to the area relocated and compensated if necessary to accommodate the returnees.
In the meantime, after conducting a census, a referendum is to be held on whether to integrate Kirkuk into the Kurdistan Region or maintain its current territorial status as an Iraqi province.
The Article also states that normalization in disputed territories should be accomplished by the end of 2007.
