Shafaq News/ Kurdish and Arab farmers in Kirkuk have reached agreements over contentious agricultural lands disputes, the head of the Article 140 Committee in Kirkuk, Babakir Sadeeq, announced, on Wednesday.

Sadeeq told Shafaq News that “Kirkuk Governor Rakan Saeed al-Jubouri has tasked the Article 140 Committee with finding solutions after disputes erupted in the Balkana and Sargaran areas of al-Dibis district.”

A delegation from the committee was sent to Kirkuk and held meetings with the director of agriculture, as well as Kurdish and Arab farmers, resulting in a series of decisions aimed at resolving the agricultural land disputes. A follow-up meeting with the Article 140 Committee head is scheduled for Sunday to finalize these decisions and facilitate the use of the disputed lands for farming, he added.

The head of the committee further noted that some decrees issued by the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council require Iraqi parliamentary approval to repeal, which would restore rights to their original owners through legal mechanisms acceptable to all parties.

Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution mandates reversing demographic changes enacted under Saddam Hussein's regime in disputed areas, which favored Arabs over Kurds. The article outlines a process of normalization, a population census, and a referendum allowing residents to choose between joining the Kurdistan Region or remaining under Baghdad’s administration.

Although implementation of Article 140 was supposed to be completed by the end of 2007, political and security challenges delayed progress. In 2019, Iraq's Federal Supreme Court ruled that Article 140 remains in effect until its requirements are fulfilled and its objectives achieved.