PUK Organization Center of Kerkuk issued a statement, on Sunday Aug 2, about the attempt of Arabization process in the disputed areas, appealing to the Iraqi President, government and the Minister of the Interior.

The statement said:

Unfortunately, at a time when the citizens of Kirkuk and Khurmato are busy with celebrating Eid Al-Adha, groups of Arabs who were brought in by the former Ba’athist regime as part of the Arabization efforts are trying again to confiscate the original Kurdish lands in a number of villages belonging to the Daquq district.

In this regard, we appeal to the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Federal Minister of the Interior, the United Nations and all international organizations and concerned parties to accelerate the prevention of this violation and stand in the face of attempts to revive Arabization operations in Kirkuk governorate that contribute to destabilizing the political and security conditions and threatening societal peace and eternal relations between the original Kirkuk components.

We in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan strongly reject these arbitrary actions and consider them as the beginning of a serious threat to the relationship between the components in Kirkuk, especially between the Kurds and the Arabs, and we demand the security forces to speed up the adoption of constitutional procedures and not to allow this flagrant and contrary violation of laws and the constitution.

We assure all parties that we will not allow any form of confiscation of the Kurdish lands and properties and other components and we will take all political and civil methods to address these attempts. In this context, the head of the Kirkuk Organizations Center of the Patriotic Union Kurdistan and the representatives of Kirkuk for the Patriotic Union Kurdistan continue their efforts and contacts with the President of the Republic, the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Justice and the Leader of the Advance Headquarters for Joint Operations in Kirkuk, the Governor of Kirkuk by proxy, and other entities that have pledged to solve this problem in accordance with the constitution and the law.