Author: Mofak Salman

TURKMEN TERRORIZED BY THE US FORCES
Mr.Falah Hassan Younis is a Turkmen citizen and a member of the Iraqi Turkmen Advisory Council in Kerkuk who works as a Director of the sub district of Alaiyaziya which is a link to the Turkmen district of Telafer. Currently he is in charge of the district in the absence of its councillor.
On the 25th of the December Mr. Falah Hassan Younis was summoned by the American forces for a meeting and Mr. Falah Hassan was obliged to attend at the request of the American forces. He attended the meeting with the US forces while he was accompanied by his bodyguards.
During the meeting with the American counterpart his body guards were disarmed by the American forces as this was backed up by the Iraqi Turkmen Front representative in the Turkmen District of Telafer Mr. Nabil Harbu.
Mr.Falah Hassan Younis and his body guards were physically abused and beaten badly by the US forces.
Mr.Falah Hassan Younis and one of his body guards were detained by the US forces whereas the remaining body guards were released. Then both the body guards were handed over to the Iraqi forces in the city of Mosul. As the election approaches in Iraq, they would like to silence the voice of the Turkmen; various steps have been taken by Kurdish parties and American forces to do this.
However, the Turkmen, Arabs, and Chaldo Assyrians had high expectations of the interim administration established after April 9, 2003. The Turkmen expected to see democracy, fairness, an end to discrimination, the right to self-determination and an end to violence. Unfortunately, the opposite has occurred regarding the human rights situation in Iraq, in particular concerning the Iraqi Turkmen. The Turkmen have been subject to campaigns by the Kurds and the American in Turkmeneli in an often more brutal fashion than carried out on Kurds by Saddam Hussein.
The arbitrary arrests of the Turkmen citizen Mr. Falah Hassan Younis US force is a clear violation of human rights. They are still detained and being imprisoned by the Iraqi forces and no one knows where they are imprisoned. The most striking thing is that, the detainees have not been given any reason for their arrest and have not been given access for a lawyer.

Turkmen of Iraq call upon the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri AlMaliki, Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Journalists Union, all Iraqi and international organizations defending the human rights and freedom to move immediately to the authorities of the Iraqi government at the highest levels for the protection of the Turkmen, Arabs and Assyrian from the Kurdish and American oppression that are carried out under the pretext of fighting of the terrors.

Mofak Salman
Turkmeneli Party Representative for Both Ireland and United Kingdom
[1] Turkmen: The Iraqi Turkmen live in an area that they call “Turkmenia” in Latin or Turkmeneli” which means, “Land of the Turkmen. It was referred to as “Turcomania” by the British geographer William Guthrie in 1785. The Turkmen are a Turkic group that has a unique heritage and culture as well as linguistic, historical and cultural links with the surrounding Turkic groups such as those in Turkey and Azerbaijan. Their spoken language is closer to Azeri but their official written language is like the Turkish spoken in present-day Turkey. Their real population has always being suppressed by the authorities in Iraq for political reasons and estimated at 2%, whereas in reality their numbers are more realistically between 2.5 to 3 million, i .e. 12% of the Iraqi population.
[2] Turkmeneli is a diagonal strip of land stretching from the Syrian and Turkish border areas from
around Telafer in the north of Iraq, reaching down to the town of Mendeli on the Iranian border in Central Iraq. The Turkmen of Iraq settled in Turkmeneli in three successive and constant migrations from Central Asia, this increased their numbers and enabled them to establish six states in Iraq.

 

The Kurdish terror showed their ugly face once again

by raiding of a Turkmen house 

 

 

 

On the 5^th of November 2008 a group of U.S. force accompanied by Kurdish security forces that are known as Asayish have raided the home of a Turkmen citizen Nazim Suleiman Begoglu in the Turkmen city of Kirkuk, district of Althbat “

According to the member of the family who was present in the house during the raid, the U.S. force, accompanied by a group of Kurdish security forces “Asayish” broke doors in the house at around half an hour after mid-night.

They entered the house after smashing the main gates and doors then they arrested two of their sons Nabil Nazim Suleiman, aged thirty years and his brother Zakaria Nazim Suleiman of twenty-eight years respectively and who worked in a shop selling electrical appliances in downtown Kirkuk.

During the raid on the Turkmen home by the US occupied forces that accompanied by the Asayish. The Asayish were wearing Balla Clava, with a Kurdish flag on the arm of their uniform and they spoke with a different Kurdish accent.

The Asayish and American forces destroyed their furniture, contents of the house, smashed doors and windows and randomly fired bullets using automatic machine guns inside the house in order to terrify the innocent unarmed Turkmen family.

They moved all the members of the family into a single room and they tied their hands behind their backs and faced to the wall. The children and the females were body searched and this is utterly unacceptable in the culture and the tradition of the Islam and the in the Turkmen culture especially. This criminal act was implemented on the hand the Asayish and US forces despite the assurances that were given from the central government and officials not to raids the homes of the citizens without having warrant issue.

According to the information that has been released, the raided forces have requested from the frightened Turkmen family to show them their savings and jewellery, the family did so under the force of a gun. As the result of this US forces and Asayish stole their savings and jewellery during the raid and this matter should be urgently investigated by the US occupied forces in Kirkuk who are mainly responsible for the safety, security and the stability.

After the incident the Turkmen family have approached the police in Kirkuk, political organizations and the Kirkuk governor Mustafa Abdullrahman who is a Kurd and being appointed by the USA forces for help and assistance.  A promises and assurance were given to the Turkmen family by the Kirkuk governor to investigate the incident and to secure their release but unfortunately no proper action has been taken to secure their release.

The arbitrary arrests of the two brothers, Zakaria and Nabil Nazim Suleiman Begoglu by the Asayish and US occupied forces are a clear violation of human rights. They are still detained and being imprisoned by the occupied forces and no one knows where they are imprisoned. The most striking thing is that, the family of the detainees have not been given any reason for their arrest and have not been given access for a lawyer.

 

Turkmen of Iraq call upon the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri AlMaliki, Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Journalists Union, all Iraqi and international organizations defending the human rights and freedom to move immediately to the authorities of the Iraqi government at the highest levels for the protection of the Turkmen, Arabs and Assyrian from the Kurdish oppression that are carried by Kurdish terror forces that is known as Asayish in North of Iraq and also calls for the removal of the Asayish from Turkmen city of Kirkuk and to be replaced with forces from the central government and consisting of Arabs, Turkmen, Assyrians  and Kurds

 Mofak Salman

Turkmeneli Party Representative for Both Ireland and United Kingdom

msalman@eircom.net

[1] Turkmen: The Iraqi Turkmen live in an area that they call “Turkmenia” in Latin or Turkmeneli” which means, “Land of the Turkmen. It was referred to as “Turcomania” by the British geographer William Guthrie in 1785. The Turkmen are a Turkic group that has a unique heritage and culture as well as linguistic, historical and cultural links with the surrounding Turkic groups such as those in Turkey and Azerbaijan. Their spoken language is closer to Azeri but their official written language is like the Turkish spoken in present-day Turkey. Their real population has always being suppressed by the authorities in Iraq for political reasons and estimated at 2%, whereas in reality their numbers are more realistically between 2.5 to 3 million, i .e. 12% of the Iraqi population.

[2] Turkmeneli is a diagonal strip of land stretching from the Syrian and Turkish border areas from
around Telafer in the north of Iraq, reaching down to the town of Mendeli on the Iranian border in Central Iraq. The Turkmen of Iraq settled in Turkmeneli in three successive and constant migrations from Central Asia, this increased their numbers and enabled them to establish six states in Iraq.

[3] Asayish is an unrecognized and illegitimate force that is utilized by both Kurdish parties to terrorize innocent civilian people. They are used to kidnap and kill people who defy the Kurdish aspiration for establishing a Kurdish state.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wander through Kirkuk city today and the presence of the large Turkmen population is very visible. Ever since they began migrating to Iraq following the Islamic conquest of parts of north-east Asia (Turkmenistan), the Turkmen have assumed a prominent position as traders, but today as the status of Kirkuk becomes increasingly disputed, they are assuming a more political role as well.

Saeed Al-Bayyati, the owner of a cloth shop in al-Jumhouriya street says that Turkmen are “traders, fathers like sons.” Inviting us to stroll down Kirkuk’s main commercial streets shop names and banners are widely written in Turkmen. “They are not specialized in one kind of goods but they ‘control the market’”, said Saeed, telling jokes about rich Turkmen and their reputation for being frugal with their money. “They are not really tightfisted… but those who trade know that money brings money,” he said.

While Turkmen live beyond the disputed city of Kirkuk, the city constitutes their political centre and is known as the “heart of the Turkmen.” In February 1987, the British Inquiry magazine estimated the total number of Shiite and Sunni Turkmen across Iraq to stand at about half a million. But today there are no reliable statistics and the last official census accepted by the different ethnicities is over 50 years old. The 1957 census gave a figure of half a million Turkmen across all of Iraq, stating that they constituted the second largest group in Kirkuk after the Kurds. Iraqis are now waiting for the census which the government has said it will conduct in 2009 to determine the ratios of ethnicities and minorities including Turkmen in the “new Iraq.”

Today, Shiite Turkmen live in the cities of Mosul, Tall Afar and Toz Khurmatu in the province of Salahuddin and Taza district of Kirkuk province, while the majority of the Sunni Turkmen live in the district of Kifri in Diyala and in the city of Kirkuk. However, there are no sectarian sensitivities between Shiite and Sunni Turkmen on the social level with mixed marriages in Kirkuk a regular occurrence. According to a Turkmen school teacher “while Iraq witnessed a sectarian war, nobody heard of a Shiite Turkmen killing a Sunni Turkmen. This has given us the strength that we need now.”

However, this social cohesion is not reflected in Turkmen politics with both Sunni and Shiite parties in existence.

On the Shiite side, there are several parties linked to the United Shiite Iraqi Alliance, the largest Arab parliamentary bloc. But, Turkmen influence is limited and the biggest Shiite Turkmen party, the Islamic Union, only holds one out of the alliance’s total 128 parliamentary seats. In Kirkuk’s provincial elections, they only won one seat occupied by Tahseen Kihya.

On the Sunni side, things are different. Unlike the Shiites, the bloc pushes for strong relations with Turkey and opposes the Kurds. The Turkmen Front, founded in 1995 with direct support from Turkey, is the umbrella of several large parties including the Turkmen National Party and the Independent Turkmen Party and occupies eight seats in the provincial council. For many observers, the Sunni parties are more reflective of the real Turkmen position because the Shiite parties have to subjugate their views, especially on the issue of Kirkuk, to the view of the larger Iraqi Shiite Alliance.

Based on information from the last election, the Turkmen Front represents about 35% of the Turkmen in Kirkuk, a relatively low ratio considering the Front’s persistent efforts to strengthen its relations with the Turkmen population by helping the poor, distributing financial and food aid, providing health care and sending the most needy to hospitals in Turkey to receive health care at the party’s expense.

Finally, Turkmen parties within the Kurdish region represent a third trend within the Turkmen political spectrum. These parties – the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Turkmen Union Party, the Brotherhood Party and the Shorouq Party – call for the annexation of Kirkuk to Iraqi Kurdistan and for that reason they do not have real representation in Kirkuk. Since 2003 these parties have kept a low profile but Turkmen parties based in Kirkuk call them “puppets” of Kurdish leaders and say they are being used to further the Kurdish agenda of securing control of Kirkuk.

The one common feature uniting these political parties is that none of them call for or aspire to Turkmen self-rule and none of them say that Kirkuk is absolutely a Turkmen city. Instead, they call for the joint administration of the city with Kurds and Arabs. There is also no doubt that a majority of the Turkmen oppose the potential annexation of the city to the Kurdish region.

While most of the Turkmen parties are keen to put their own ethnic flag – a white crescent moon – over their buildings, they do so on a flagpole shorter than that holding the Iraqi flag as a symbol of their respect for the central government.

Posted by
Mofak Salman