Disputed territories of northern Iraq
The disputed territories of northern Iraq (Arabic: المناطق المتنازع عليها في العراق,[1][2][3] Kurdish: ناوچە جێناکۆکەکانی عێراق[4]) are regions defined by article 140 of the Constitution of Iraq as being Arabised during Baath Party rule in Iraq. Most of these regions are inhabited by non-Arabs, including Kurds, Assyrians, Yazidis, Turkmens/Turkomans, and Shabaks.
The disputed areas have been a core concern for many Arabs, Assyrians, Kurds, and Turkmens, especially since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and the subsequent political restructuring. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) gained control of territory to the south of the Kurdistan Region after 2003, taking over land they claimed as part of Iraqi Kurdistan.[5]
During the Islamic State offensive in 2014, the KRG's Peshmerga forces took over more of the disputed territories. Kirkuk Governorate, strategically important because of its oil fields, was retaken by Iraqi government forces in the Battle of Kirkuk in 2017.