ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Kurds in Kirkuk are demanding the provincial government reverse a move to use only Arabic and some English on official signage in the multi-ethnic city.

“We will not accept this move and we have told them this multiple times,” Jamal Shkur, a Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) member in the Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw’s Hardi Muhammad on Thursday. “This is an intentional move to wipe out Kurds from Kirkuk and change the demographics of Kirkuk, just like in the times of Saddam.”

A concerted effort under Saddam Hussein’s Baath regime, mostly between 1970 and 1978, relocated Arabs from elsewhere in Iraq to Kirkuk, forcing out Kurdish residents. After 2003 and the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq began a policy of de-Arabization to reverse the demographic changes and land was returned to the original owners. In 2012, Kirkuk’s provincial council decided that all governmental signage must be in the languages of its four main ethnic groups: Arabic, Kurdish, Turkmen, and Syriac.

After 2017, when Kurds lost military and administrative control of Kirkuk following a bid for Kurdish independence, Kurds have said they are once again being forced off their lands, sparking fears of a renewed Arabization effort.

The governorate building, appeal court, and airport are among the many places in Kirkuk with new signs in Arabic and some English, but no Kurdish, Turkmen, or Syriac.

Local Kurdish residents say the problem goes beyond just the signage and they cannot speak their language in official settings.

“All governmental proceedings have been changed to Arabic, and if you speak in Kurdish, chances are no one will help you,” said Ali Abbas.

“Most times when we go to a government building and ask for something in Kurdish, they do not respond to us so we have to switch to Arabic or Turkmen,” said Farhad Khalid.

Officials in the governorate office said they will correct the problem with the signs, adding other languages.

“We spoke to the governor of Kirkuk and his deputy – the signs will be changed,” said Dler Shwani, head of public relations for the governorate. “All governmental building signs in Kirkuk should be labeled in four languages.”

Kirkuk is disputed between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and is home to Kurd, Arab, Turkmen, and Christian inhabitants. Other disputed territories lie in the provinces of Nineveh, Diyala and Salahaddin.

Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution was supposed to have resolved the issue of the disputed provinces by 2007, but successive governments have failed to implement the steps outlined in the provision.

Rudaw