Turkish Forum

Category: Middle East & Africa

  • Brawling Greek and Armenian monks refuse to turn the other cheek

    Brawling Greek and Armenian monks refuse to turn the other cheek

    Christian infighting in Jerusalem

    By Michael Hirst
    BBC News

    The argument over rights within Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre is as complicated and seemingly intractable as the Middle East conflict itself.

    But when the dispute descends into violence, battles are pitched with crucifixes and staves rather than missiles, guns and stones.

    Many Christians believe the church in the heart of Jerusalem’s old city marks the place of Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. As such, it is arguably Christianity’s holiest site.

    A church has stood in the area for 1,700 years. Due to the conflicts that Jerusalem has since endured, the building has been partly destroyed, rebuilt and renovated several times.

    a diagram of the church

    It is now a labyrinthine complex of chapels and living quarters that is visited by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and tourists every year.

    “Caught On Tape:” What began as an annual procession by Christian monksat the Church Of The Holy Sepulchre, ended in a flurry of punches. The church is believed to be the site of Jesus’ crucifixion.

    The church is grudgingly shared by six claimant communities – Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Egyptian Copt and Ethiopian Orthodox – who have always jealously defended their rights over various parts of the complex.

    Rivalry between the groups dates back to the aftermath of the crusades and to the great schism between Eastern and Western Christianity in the 11th Century.

    The Status Quo

    So intense is the intra-Christian dispute that the six communities cannot agree which of them should have a key to the site’s main door.

    Consequently, two Muslim families have been the sole guardians of the 25cm (10 inch) key since they were entrusted with the task by the Muslim ruler Saladin in 1178.

    One family is responsible for unlocking the door each morning and locking it each night, while the other is responsible for its safekeeping at all other times.

    In order to settle disputes, the Ottoman sultan issued a 1757 edict (now referred to as the Status Quo agreement) which outlined jurisdiction over Jerusalem’s various Christian holy places.

    Regarding the Holy Sepulchre, it defined exactly which parts – from chapel, to lamp, to flagstone – of the complex were to be controlled by which denomination.

    The ruling forbad any changes in designated religious sites without permission from the ruling government.

    It also prohibited any changes whatsoever to designated sacred areas – from building, to structural repairs to cleaning – unless collectively agreed upon by the respective “tenants” from the rival religious communities.

    Punishment for a violation of the edict could result in the confiscation of properties overseen by the offending group.

    So closely is the ruling followed that it took 17 years of debate before an agreement was reached to paint the church’s main dome in 1995.

    Acrimonious processions

    Monks and friars have been known to exchange blows over who owns a chapel or whose right it is to clean which step.

    Religious ceremonies can appear more like singing contests with communities battling to chant the loudest.

    Monks inside the church are fiercely protective about their rights

    Access to the tomb of Christ – a pale pink kiosk punctuated with portholes and supported by scaffolding that the writer Robert Byron compared to a steam-engine – is particularly fiercely guarded on such occasions.

    Processions on holy days regularly become acrimonious, with jostling crowds exacerbating tensions over territorial disputes that periodically descend into in punch-ups.

    The smallest slight can end in violence: In 2004, a door to the Roman Catholic chapel was left open during a Greek Orthodox ceremony.

    This was perceived by the Greeks to be a sign of disrespect, and a fight broke out which resulted in several arrests.

    The intractable nature of the territorial arguments over the site are epitomised by the short wooden ladder that rests on a ledge above the church’s main entrance.

    It has been there since the 19th Century because rival groups cannot agree who has the right to take it down.

    Under the Status Quo agreement, rights to the windows reached by the ladder belong to the Armenians, but the ledge below is controlled by the Greeks.

    Roof falling in?

    Also emblematic of the territorial dispute’s intensity is an ongoing row which, unless resolved, could see the church’s roof collapse.

    Ethiopians were banished from the church’s interior by the sultan two centuries years ago because they could not pay the necessary taxes, and have been living in a monastery on the roof ever since.

    The huts of Deir al-Sultan are at the heart of an ongoing row

    The monastery, Deir al-Sultan, now comprises two chapels, an open courtyard, service and storage rooms and a series of tiny huts inhabited by Ethiopian monks. It is reminiscent of a basic African village.

    All agree the monastery is in poor shape, but a recent Israeli report said it had reached an “emergency state”, and was at risk of collapsing through the roof into the church.

    Israel has said it will pay for the repairs if the Christians can reach agreement on them, but this seems unlikely, due to a long-running ownership dispute between Ethiopian monks and their Egyptian counterparts.

    Over the years, this dispute has been played out on various battlefields, including Israel’s highest courts.

    So intense has the argument become that when a monk moved a chair out of the sunshine into a shadier area during a heat-wave six years ago, his action was seen as an attempted land-grab.

    A fight broke out that left several monks needing hospital treatment.

    Such skirmishes may seem nonsensical, but are all too common an occurrence at Christianity’s most revered shrine.

    Source: news.bbc.co.uk, 11 November 2008

  • The Kurdish Parties Harbouring PKK Terrorist Organisations

    The Kurdish Parties Harbouring PKK Terrorist Organisations

    By Mofak Salman

    The PKK terrorist group, which has Marxist-Leninist roots, was formed in the late 1970s and launched an armed struggle against the Turkish government in 1984, calling for an independent Kurdish state within Turkey. Since then, more than 37,000 people have died. During the conflict, which reached a peak in the mid-1990s, hundreds of villages were attacked and destroyed by the PKK terrorist organisation in the largely Kurdish south-east and east of Turkey, and hundreds of thousands of innocent people fled to cities in other parts of the country.

    After the fall of the Ba’ath regime in 2003, with the help of the KDP and PUK, the PKK terrorist organisation utilised northern of Iraq as a safe haven area and it was here that they built their training camps, hospital, and party offices.

    The Kurdish militias that are led by both Barzani and Talabani supported the PKK terrorist organisation with arms, logistical support, and transportation. The injured PKK terrorists who fought the Turkish army were transported and treated in Erbil hospitals, which were under control the KDP militia. They were provided with passports, identity cards and given the right to vote during the Iraqi election, and have since opened several party offices in Kirkuk, Erbil and Duhok.

    Instead of the PKK terrorist members being arrested by the US forces in conjunction with Kurdish police in north of Iraq but unfortunately they were provided with radio station by the Kurdish parties in North of Iraq.

    Although the PKK have been recognised as a terrorist organisation by the European, USA and other countries. They have been armed and supported by the both Kurdish parties in north of Iraq and the PKK terrorist members have been allowed to base in the Candil mountains of northern Iraq; and the Iraqi Kurdish parties have been unwilling, to take action against PKK terrorist bases in north of Iraqi and both Kurdish parties and Us forces have been allowing the PKK terrorist members to carry out attack on Turkey territory

  • Turkey and Iraqi Kurds: Conflict or Cooperation

    Turkey and Iraqi Kurds: Conflict or Cooperation

    Istanbul/Brussels, 13 November 2008: Turkey’s newly adroit management of its relationship with Iraqi Kurds has resulted in a tentative victory for pragmatism over ultra-nationalism, but many obstacles remain before relations can be normalised.

    Turkey and Iraqi Kurds: Conflict or Cooperation?,* the latest background report from the International Crisis Group, examines the study in contrasts that has been Ankara’s policy: Turkey periodically sends jets to bomb suspected hide-outs of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and expresses alarm at the prospect of Kurdish independence, yet it has now significantly deepened its ties to the Iraqi Kurdish region.

    “Both Turkey and Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have made a breakthrough in challenging ultra-nationalism”, says Oytun Çelik, Crisis Group’s Istanbul-based analyst. “They should continue to invest in a relationship that, though fragile and beset by uncertainties over Iraq’s future, has become more pragmatic and potentially very fruitful”.

    Ankara’s policy toward Iraq is based on two core national interests: preserving that country’s territorial integrity and fighting the PKK, whose rebels use remote northern Iraqi border areas as staging ground for attacks inside Turkey. From Turkey’s perspective, Iraq’s disintegration wo

    International Crisis Group – 81 Turkey and Iraqi Kurds: Conflict or Cooperation.

  • Baron David de Rothschild: Economic Crisis Will Bring New World Order, Global Governance

    Baron David de Rothschild: Economic Crisis Will Bring New World Order, Global Governance

    The first barons of banking

    Last Updated: November 06. 2008 7:11PM UAE / November 6. 2008 3:11PM GMT

    Nobleman: Baron David de Rothschild, the head of the Rothschild bank. The Rothschilds have helped the British government since financing Wellington

    Among the captains of industry, spin doctors and financial advisers accompanying British prime minister Gordon Brown on his fund-raising visit to the Gulf this week, one name was surprisingly absent. This may have had something to do with the fact that the tour kicked off in Saudi Arabia. But by the time the group reached Qatar, Baron David de Rothschild was there, too, and he was also in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

    Although his office denies that he was part of the official party, it is probably no coincidence that he happened to be in the same part of the world at the right time. That is how the Rothschilds have worked for centuries: quietly, without fuss, behind the scenes.

    “We have had 250 years or so of family involvement in the finance business,” says Baron Rothschild. “We provide advice on both sides of the balance sheet, and we do it globally.”

    The Rothschilds have been helping the British government – and many others – out of a financial hole ever since they financed Wellington’s army and thus victory against the French at Waterloo in 1815. According to a long-standing legend, the Rothschild family owed the first millions of their fortune to Nathan Rothschild’s successful speculation about the effect of the outcome of the battle on the price of British bonds. By the 19th century, they ran a financial institution with the power and influence of a combined Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and perhaps even Goldman Sachs and the Bank of China today.

    In the 1820s, the Rothschilds supplied enough money to the Bank of England to avert a liquidity crisis. There is not one institution that can save the system in the same way today; not even the US Federal Reserve. However, even though the Rothschilds may have lost some of that power – just as other financial institutions on that list have been emasculated in the last few months – the Rothschild dynasty has lost none of its lustre or influence. So it was no surprise to meet Baron Rothschild at the Dubai International Financial Centre. Rothschild’s opened in Dubai in 2006 with ambitious plans to build an advisory business to complement its European operations. What took so long?

    The answer, as many things connected with Rothschilds, has a lot to do with history. When Baron Rothschild began his career, he joined his father’s firm in Paris. In 1982 President Francois Mitterrand nationalised all the banks, leaving him without a bank. With just US$1 million (Dh3.67m) in capital, and five employees, he built up the business, before merging the French operations with the rest of the family’s business in the 1990s.

    Gradually the firm has started expanding throughout the world, including the Gulf. “There is no debate that Rothschild is a Jewish family, but we are proud to be in this region. However, it takes time to develop a global footprint,” he says.

    An urbane man in his mid-60s, he says there is no single reason why the Rothschilds have been able to keep their financial business together, but offers a couple of suggestions for their longevity. “For a family business to survive, every generation needs a leader,” he says. “Then somebody has to keep the peace. Building a global firm before globalisation meant a mindset of sharing risk and responsibility. If you look at the DNA of our family, that is perhaps an element that runs through our history. Finally, don’t be complacent about giving the family jobs.”

    He stresses that the Rothschild ascent has not been linear – at times, as he did in Paris, they have had to rebuild. While he was restarting their business in France, his cousin Sir Evelyn was building a British franchise. When Sir Evelyn retired, the decision was taken to merge the businesses. They are now strong in Europe, Asia especially China, India, as well as Brazil. They also get involved in bankruptcy restructurings in the US, a franchise that will no doubt see a lot more activity in the months ahead.

    Does he expect governments to play a larger role in financial markets in future? “There is a huge difference in the Soviet-style mentality that occurred in Paris in 1982, and the extraordinary achievements that politicians, led by Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy, have made to save the global banking system from systemic collapse,” he says. “They moved to protect the world from billions of unemployment. In five to 10 years those banking stakes will be sold – and sold at a profit.”

    Baron Rothschild shares most people’s view that there is a new world order. In his opinion, banks will deleverage and there will be a new form of global governance. “But you have to be careful of caricatures: we don’t want to go from ultra liberalism to protectionism.”

    So how did the Rothschilds manage to emerge relatively unscathed from the financial meltdown? “You could say that we may have more insights than others, or you may look at the structure of our business,” he says. “As a family business, we want to limit risk. There is a natural pride in being a trusted adviser.”

    It is that role as trusted adviser to both governments and companies that Rothschilds is hoping to build on in the region. “In today’s world we have a strong offering of debt and equity,” he says. “They are two arms of the same body looking for money.”

    The firm has entrusted the growth of its financing advisory business in the Middle East to Paul Reynolds, a veteran of many complex corporate finance deals. “Our principal business franchise is large and mid-size companies,” says Mr Reynolds. “I have already been working in this region for two years and we offer a pretty unique proposition.

    “We work in a purely advisory capacity. We don’t lend or underwrite, because that creates conflicts. We are sensitive to banking relationships. But we look to ensure financial flexibility for our clients.”

    He was unwilling to discuss specific deals or clients, but says that he offers them “trusted, impartial financing advice any time day or night”. Baron Rothschilds tends to do more deals than their competitors, mainly because they are prepared to take on smaller mandates. “It’s not transactions were are interested in, it’s relationships. We are looking for good businesses and good people,” says Mr Reynolds. “Our ambition is for every company here to have a debt adviser.”

    Baron Rothschild is reluctant to comment on his nephew Nat Rothschild’s public outburst against George Osborne, the British shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. Nat Rothschild castigated Mr Osborne for revealing certain confidences gleaned during a holiday in the summer in Corfu.

    In what the British press are calling “Yachtgate”, the tale involved Russia’s richest man, Oleg Deripaska, Lord Mandelson, a controversial British politician who has just returned to government, Mr Osborne and a Rothschild. Classic tabloid fodder, but one senses that Baron Rothschild frowns on such publicity. “If you are an adviser, that imposes a certain style and culture,” he says. “You should never forget that clients want to hear more about themselves than their bankers. It demands an element of being sober.”

    Even when not at work, Baron Rothschild’s tastes are sober. He lives between Paris and London, is a keen family man – he has one son who is joining the business next September and three daughters – an enthusiastic golfer, and enjoys the “odd concert”. He is also involved in various charity activities, including funding research into brain disease and bone marrow disorders.

    It is part of Rothschild lore that its founder sent his sons throughout Europe to set up their own interlinked offices. So where would Baron Rothschild send his children today?

    “I would send one to Asia, one to Europe and one to the United States,” he said. “And if I had more children, I would send one to the UAE.”

    [email protected]

    Source: www.thenational.ae, November 06. 2008

  • Some Chicago Jews say Obama is actually the ‘first Jewish president’

    Some Chicago Jews say Obama is actually the ‘first Jewish president’

    Last update – 05:10 13/11/2008

    By Natasha Mozgovaya

    Tags: Israel, Barack Obama

    Quite a few of Barack Obama’s “friends from the past” have popped up recently. It’s doubtful whether he even knows their names, but in the Chicago Jewish community many people really are long-time friends of the president-elect. Some of the older people in the community say that they “raised him,” while others half-jokingly call Obama “the first Jewish president.”

    They raised contributions for him, provided him with contacts, and also enjoyed hosting him and believed in his glorious future in politics. During most of the campaign, when rumors were spreading among American Jews that Obama was a closet Muslim who was more supportive of the Palestinians and was interested in granting the president of Iran legitimacy, his support among American Jews did not even come close to that enjoyed by Bill Clinton. But at the moment of truth, according to the exit polls, it turns out that 78 percent of Jews voted for Obama.

    Members of the Chicago Jewish community are not surprised. They claim that the Jews simply discovered what they have known for years. Obama lives near the synagogue in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, an area with quite a large Jewish population. Some of area visitors may even mistake the heavy security presence on the street for the synagogue’s location – that is, until they hear about Obama.

    Alan Solow, an attorney from Chicago, a leader of the Jewish community and a veteran Obama supporter, was one of the few who gained access to the president-elect after his speech in Chicago’s Grant Park last week. “After his speech on Tuesday night [election day] in front of hundreds of thousands people, he was the same Barack Obama I know. I think his life is going to change, but it won’t change the type of person he is. Presidents tend to become isolated, but I’m confident he’ll fight hard against it,” he says.

    Solow used to live in Obama’s neighborhood, and says that Obama has always had “excellent relations with the Jewish community.”

    “As a local senator, he was very effective and helpful in what we call ‘the Jewish agenda,’ the community issues, values. He has always had a deep understanding of Israel’s need for security. I went with him to Israel for a week in January 2006, and when he started the race for the presidency I had no doubt I’d support him. The first thing that impressed me about him was his intellect – he’s one of the smartest people I’ve met – but he’s also a warm and caring person who has a keen interest in issues that people of this country are worried about,” continues Solow.

    “I said with a smile that he will be the first Jewish president. He also has a deep understanding of issues that confront Israel and the Jewish community. And I think his personal story reflects the story of Jewish immigration to the United States.

    “He was raised in a family without any built-in advantages: His father was a stranger, but with the help of a close family and an emphasis on education and hard work, he succeeded. It’s the Jewish story in America. He understands it, and that’s why he’s so close to the Jewish community. His first autobiography is about seeking his roots and he understands Jewish people’s yearning for this – it fits into his world view and it’s one of the reasons for his support of Israel. When he says that Israel’s security is sacrosanct, I believe him. As I know him, he won’t say things he doesn’t really mean. And he has a lot of close Jewish friends who can confirm this.”

    Solow is also very familiar with Obama’s first appointment – his designated White House chief of staff. “Rahm is an active member of Jewish community, his children go to the day schools and he was always recognized as Jewish when he was Clinton’s advisor. But I don’t believe that the fact that he’s a devoted Jew and supports Israel has anything to do with his appointment. He’s simply the best person for this job, because of his experience in Congress and in Clinton’s administration, and because of his intellect. But his support of Israel fits with the president-elect’s thinking.”

    Michael Bauer, a political activist from the community who has known Obama for over a decade and supported his presidential campaign, says his first reaction to Obama’s victory was disbelief. “It seemed like a dream. After the election, I had a brief opportunity to congratulate him, to exchange a hug with Barack, a kiss with Michelle. We’re very proud of him and we’re sure he’ll successfully handle the big challenges facing the country and the new president,” he says.

    “If we go back to his work as a State senator, his Senate district had a relatively high percentage of Jews, and more importantly, it was a Jewish population involved both politically and with charity organizations. When he was in the State Senate, the Democrats were a minority. When you’re a minority you don’t get too much accomplished. Neither Barack as a State Senator nor any of his colleagues were able to accomplish a great deal, because of Republican control of the State Senate. However, because of his district, it was always clear to me that many people supporting Barack are active in the Jewish community both locally and nationally. And they agreed about his sensitivity to a number of issues – the issue of the U.S-Israel relationship and domestically, issues that many of us are concerned about, be it the separation of Church and State, women’s right to choose, etc. It was always a natural fit between the Jewish community and Barack Obama. He understands those issues. Frankly, he’s so smart he understands them better than most of us,” says Bauer.

    Identifying with Sderot

    “As a U.S. senator he visited Israel twice, and especially the second time I think was highly significant,” Bauer continues. “I think it was important to him personally to go to Sderot and see the proximity involved when Israel is attacked on a daily basis from Gaza. I think it was also symbolic for the people of Israel and the worldwide community, as well as the Jewish community, to see Barack Obama going to Sderot and speaking about it, that as president it will be unacceptable to him and he recognizes Israel’s right to defend itself. This symbolism was important on so many different levels. I’ve known the president-elect for over 10 years, and his values and principles never change. If you ask me whether I have confidence that he’ll continue to be committed to Israel’s existence as a Jewish state within secure borders – I have absolutely no doubt.”

    “President Bush supported Israel as well, but after eight years of his support Israel faces a stronger Iran, Hezbollah at the northern border, Hamas at the southern border – and Hamas gained a sort of political legitimacy. I think George Bush was a disaster for the State of Israel. And I think Obama’s administration understands Israel’s needs for safety and security, the importance of Israel remaining a Jewish state, and will try to help to mediate a peace in the Middle East that accomplishes those goals. There are still people who don’t believe it, but the great thing in democracy is that everyone has an opinion and you don’t need 100 percent consensus. I think peace in the Middle East is one of his highest priorities – he’s not going to wait for seven years as a president to start working on it.”

    Bauer was also heavily involved in Rahm Emanuel’s campaign for Congress. “Let me say something about Rahm. One of the things people don’t like about him is the fact he’s short with people, but it’s only because he’s such a smart person. He doesn’t need a 15-minute phone conversation, he gets to the issues in three minutes. And Israel – it’s in his blood. The fact that Joe Biden, with a long record of supporting Israel, is Obama’s vice president-elect and Rahm Emanuel is his chief of staff – I’m not sure what reassurance anyone needs that the president-elect when he is president will remain a close ally of the State of Israel and the people of Israel.”

    Source: www.haaretz.com, 13.11.2008

  • Kurdish nationalism undermine the rights of Turkmens, Arabs and Chaldo Assyrians

    Kurdish nationalism undermine the rights of Turkmens, Arabs and Chaldo Assyrians

    By Mofak Salman

    After the toppling, the Saddam Hussein, hundreds of Kurdish militias poured into Turkmen city of Kirkuk. The Kurdish militias ransacked the municipality buildings in Kirkuk, government offices, and military buildings. The land deeds for the Turkmen have been taken from the Registry Office intentionally and this makes it difficult for the Turkmen to establish the original inhabitants of the province, large hotels and a historical military barracks in the city (at that time used as a museum), which was built in the Ottoman era, were set alight by Kurdish rebels, along with Turkmen shops and houses, including the land registry office.

    The invasion of Kirkuk in 2003 by the Kurdish militia was a mirror images of the repeated events from 1991during the uprising against Saddam Hussein after Operation Desert Storm. In addition, thousands of internally displaced Kurds and Turkmens were returned to Kirkuk and other Arabized regions to reclaim their homes and lands, which have been occupied by Arabs from central and southern Iraq. These returnees were forcibly expelled from their homes by the government of Saddam Hussein during the 1980s and 1990s.

    The majority of the returning Kurds were not originally from Kirkuk but they have been brought to Kirkuk with the help of the two Kurdish parties in order to change the demography the city and to win the referendum that was planned to be carried out by 31st December 2007 to determine whether Kirkuk
    can formally join the Kurdish administered region, an outcome that Arabs and Turkmen in Kirkuk staunchly opposed this. However, the unresolved issue is the future of Kirkuk an oil rich city in northern Iraq, which is a home to a substantial number of Turkmens, Kurds, and Arabs, which makes it a powder keg.

    However, the Turkmens, 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 undergoing campaigns by the Kurds in Turkmeneli in an often more brutal fashion than carried out on Kurds by Saddam Hussein. The Kirkuk city holds strategic as well as symbolic value for the Iraqi people in general and for the Turkmen especially! The ocean of oil beneath its surface could be used to drive the economy of an independent Kurdistan, the ultimate goal for many Kurds. The Kurdish militias hope are to make the city of Kirkuk and its vast oil reserves part of an autonomous Kurdistan whereas the Turkmens, Chaldo Assyrians, and Arabs are fiercely and staunchly opposing the inclusion of Kirkuk in an autonomous region, because its strategic importance, the fight over the control of the province proved to
    be one of the focal points of the conflict in northern Iraq. Kurdish control over Kirkuk could fuel Kurdish nationalism in the region and undermine the rights of Turkmens, Arabs and Chaldo Assyrians residents in Kirkuk.

    Kirkuk itself has become almost synonymous with the abusive Kurdization campaign, which illustrates the persistency of the designs that the Kurds have on Kirkuk. The fate of the city of Kirkuk has been one of the thorniest issues of Iraq’s constitutional process. Under Article 140 of the document ratified by Iraqis on 15th Oct. 2005, a referendum on the status of Kirkuk was to be implemented in the province no later than 31st Dec. 2007. This was to happen only after the Iraqi government takes measures to repatriate former Arabs residents, resettle Turkmens and Kurds or compensate them, implement the normalization and carry out the census in Kirkuk.

    After the toppling of Saddam Hussein regime, the Kurds intensified their Kurdization campaign in the city of Kirkuk. The Kurdish officials worked at the administration of the Kirkuk Municipality confiscated real estate and lands belonging to the town administration and have granted them to ethnic Kurds who newly arrived in Kirkuk and who were not originally from the town. However, throughout Kirkuk and across hundreds of remote farming villages, the Kurdish political parties did the job themselves. The PUK had openly provided $5,000 to each repatriated Kurdish family. Tens of thousands” of Kurds have resettled in the city and surrounding villages after the toppling of the Saddam Hussein regime, many with the help of the both Kurdish parties.

    The Iraqi Kurds have attempted by various methods to eliminate Turkmen identity especially from Kirkuk City in order to dilute them into Kurdish society. The economic, political, and cultural aspects for the Turkmen have been completely changed when the Kurds brought over 600,000 Kurds to city of Kirkuk. This was clearly organised and orchestrated by both Kurdish parties in order to change the demography of Kirkuk and the Kurdish parties have encouraged and offered financial support to all Kurdish families that were brought from outside Kirkuk. The demographic structure of Kirkuk have changed seriously and distorted as Kurds, backed by armed Peshmerga forces, migrated into the city in large groups claiming to be original residents.

    To prove the veracity of assertion that non Iraqi Kurds have been brought in and installed in Kirkuk as Kurds who were supposedly expelled by the Ba’ath regime is the scandal which was discovered and denounced by the Swedish Migration Minister, Mr. Tobias Billstrom in February 2007. It was discovered that the Iraqi Ambassador to Sweden, a Kurd, and named Ahmed Bamarni had been issuing Iraqi passports to non Iraqi Kurds from Syria, Iran, Turkey and Lebanon.

    It was mentioned by the Swedish authorities that the Iraqi embassy in Sweden alone had issued twenty-six thousands passports to non-Iraqis and that all of these passport holders were supposed to be born in Kirkuk.

    Consequently, thousands of internally, displaced Kurds and Turkmen returned to Kirkuk and other Arabized regions to reclaim their homes and lands, which had been occupied by Arabs from central and southern Iraq. These returnees were forcibly expelled from their homes by the government of Saddam Hussein during the 1980s and 1990s. Mr. Barzani declared that 250,000 Kurds, including Turkmen were expelled from Kirkuk while in actual fact and according to the Ration Card Data Base (considered by the United Nations to be a reliable source for information on the Iraqi population); some 12,000 inhabitants were expelled from Kirkuk under the previous regime, one third being Turkmen.

    On the 10th April 2003, Kirkuk had 810,000 inhabitants and today, four years after the occupation of Kirkuk by the Kurdish militia and the massive influx of Kurds to Kirkuk, the population of Kirkuk is over 1.5 million inhabitants and all newcomers are Kurds. The majority of the returning Kurds were not originally from Kirkuk but they have been brought to Kirkuk with the help of the two Kurdish parties in order to change the demography of the city and to win the referendum by December 2007 to determine whether Kirkuk can formally join the Kurdish administered region.

    The Kurds militia insisted that the constitution requires to carry out a referendum by December 2007 to determine whether Kirkuk can formally join the Kurdish administration region and the Arabs and Turkmens in Kirkuk are staunchly oppose it since the demography of the city has changed dramatically. Since hundreds of thousands of Kurds have moved to the city in the recent years in what Turkmen and Arabs sees as a systematic campaign to change the demographic structure of the city to guarantee a favorable outcome in the upcoming referendum. In addition, how a referendum can be carried out when the country is under occupation, the lack of the security, stability and when the specific groups forced the legislation on the Iraqis.

    James Baker & Lee Hamilton [ ] called for a major delay on a constitutional referendum planned for Kirkuk’s at the end of the year 2007, when the report was stated that the Kurds have altered the city’s demographic makeup by bringing in more than 100,000 of their relatives, holding a census could lead to regional conflict. The risks of further violence sparked by a referendum are great and would be potentially
    explosive, a referendum in Kirkuk city could lead to violent clashes among the ethnic groups and even a civil war across Iraq, that could eventually lead to a disintegration of Iraq and also there is a great possibility the
    intervention and involvement of Iran, Syria and Turkey in Iraq. The Turkish Republic — which has always attributed high importance to independence and liberty throughout its history -has been conscious of the need to preserve and maintain its capability of protecting its sovereign rights, its territorial integrity, stability in the region and its national and international interests and any clashed in Kirkuk would provoke Turkish government.

    The Iraqi Study Group Report on the Kirkuk issue that was submitted by James Baker and Lee Hamilton considered by the Turkmen as a realistic, constructive, well-structured and comprehensive in covered all aspects that related to Iraqi issues and provided new hope for the future of Iraq. It was the upmost important that the reference on Kirkuk status should be delayed as was quoted in the Page Number 45, Recommendation 30 on the Iraq Study Group Report, James A. Baker, III, and Lee H. Hamilton.[ ] Also see
    page 19 of The Iraq Study Group Report, James A. Baker, III, and Lee H. Hamilton.

    The New Iraqi Constitution was written under foreign military occupation and mostly the non -Iraqis and the article 140 imposed that written and imposed by the Kurds and which was added at the last minute to the New Constitution.

    Article 140: The article 140, dealt with very important and sensitive issues, not only for the Turkmen of Iraq but for all Iraqis, except perhaps for the Kurdish minority, as it was written by the Kurds and their foreign
    consultants to suit the Kurds special agenda and self interest, to facilitate for them the kidnapping of Kirkuk, its annexation to the Kurdish Autonomous Region, legalizing for them by the same means grabbing control
    of huge oil wealth of this historical Iraqi Turkmen city and the Turkmens capital city and main cultural centre for at least 900 years.

    One of the anomalies of this article 140 of the New Permanent Iraqi Constitution is that it imposed a fixed time limit for its implementation, stating that it must be completed before 31st December 2007. Furthermore
    this article 140 deals with the normalization process of the situation in Kirkuk governate, a process which consists of three major steps, each one with it is time limit:-

    1- The return to Kirkuk of all its forcefully displayed inhabitants by the Ba’ath Regime during the Arabisation processes of the province by the regime and the recuperation of their confiscated lands and properties to be
    completed before 31st March 2007.
    2- A new population census for the original population of the province to be held before 31st August 2007.
    3- A referendum for the future of Kirkuk to be attached to the Kurdish Autonomous Region or not, to be voted before 31st December 2007.

    This article with its imposed time limits, a supposedly New Permanent Constitution is unheard of: it is a Kurdish innovation in the Iraqi Constitution. Kirkuk itself had become almost synonymous with the abusive
    Kurdization campaign, which illustrates the persistency of the designs that the Kurds have on Kirkuk. The fate of the city of Kirkuk has been one of the thorniest issues of Iraq’s constitutional process. Under Article 140 of the document that was ratified by Iraqis on 15th Oct.2005, a referendum on the status of Kirkuk will be implemented in the province no later than Dec. 31, 2007. This will happen only after the Iraqi government takes measures to repatriate former Arab residents and resettle Turkmen and Kurds or compensate them, carry out the normalization and census. The 140th article expired on the 31st Dec.2007, and according to the Iraqi constitution that was established after the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime, article 140 should not be modified or extended since it was imposed a fixed time limit for its implementation, stating that it must be completed before 31st December 2007, therefore at the end of the 2007 it was automatically expired and had lost its constitutional validity since the article was not fully implemented before the end of the 2007.
    Also the Iraqi constitution clearly stated that any extension or amendment on the article needs an approval of 2/3 of the Iraqi parliament’s members and also the approval of the public in form of a referendum.
    But unfortunately the UN representative in Erbil Mr. Staffan de Mistura recommended extending the expiry date of article 140 for a further six months, this happened when he was invited to the Kurdish parliament. Mr. Staffan de Mistura’s suggestion among the Turkmen was considered unwise and biased, since he failed to pay any attention to the Iraqi constitutional.

    In fact, he bent to the pressure that was applied on him by the both Kurdish parties in northern Iraq, but Prime Minister of Iraq Mr. Nuri al-Maliki did not support the initiative because he stated that any extension of the work to rule 140 after the time limit was unconstitutional.

    The Turkmen public thought it was more beneficial for the UN to open an office in Kirkuk city instead of opening an office Erbil city in north of Iraq, listening to the suggestions, demands and complains of the ethnic groups in Kirkuk and rather than issuing an irrational statement.

    In addition, the article is an Iraqi internal matter and the UN representative was not entitled and had no full authority and constitutional right to change, extent and even to modify any article within the Iraqi constitution. Iraq is sovereign country and it was not under the UN mandate therefore a UN employee working in Iraq had not an authority to suggest, recommend and an extension for any article within the Iraqi constitution without prior consulting his main office and also without obtaining the approval and consent of the people in Kirkuk.

    The Turkmens totally refused the recommendation of Mr. Stephan de Mistura and was totally opposed by the Turkmen, thus the Iraqi Turkmen Front leader Mr. S. Ergerj met with the Mr. Stephan de Mistura regarding the his statements about the postponing the referendum and the ITF leader had expressed his deepest concern about the extension of the Article 140 and also Turkmen political parties condemned the action that was taken by the U.N personal in Erbil Mr. Stephan de Mistura.

    In the middle of July 2008. Iraq’s parliament reached an agreement on the Provincial Council Election Law, particularly with regard to Paragraph 24 of the law, which deals with the election mechanism in the Kirkuk Governorate. The postponement of the elections and adaptation of the division of Kirkuk to the three constituencies that include the proportion of 32 % for Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen and 4% for Assyrians.

    Turkmen, Arab and Assyrians proposed equal distribution of provincial council seats in the Kirkuk region – which is outside the Kurdish territory. This was vetoed by President Jalal Talabani and his deputy, Adel Abdul
    Mahdi. Before the voting, the Kurds rejected secret ballot whereas the opposition had requested a secret ballot and the members of the Iraqi parliament voted open and secret voting. The majority of members have
    decided for secret voting and the deputy parliamentary speaker Khalid al-Attiyah, a Shiite, said the secret ballot was unconstitutional and accused the lawmakers of “arm-twisting.” On the 22nd of July 2008, decision was made by 127 Iraqi members of parliament they voted in favour of the Provincial Council Election Law, particularly with regard to Paragraph 24 of the law, which deals with the election mechanism in the Kirkuk Governorate. The distribution of power that include the proportion of 32 % for Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen and 4% for Assyrians.

    The security of the town shall be controlled by the central government rather than the current military forces that are stationed in the town. The security forces that are linked to the political parties have to leave. The
    bill was approved by 127 out of 140 deputies that attended the meeting and 10 of those members decided not to vote. Two of them decided to vote against and one MP submitted a blank ballot paper but the Iraq’s parliament still passed the law. The Kurds, along with the two deputy parliamentary speakers, walked out of the chamber after lawmakers decided to hold a secret ballot on a power-sharing item in the law for the disputed, oil-rich city of Kirkuk. This was vetoed by President Jalal Talabani and his deputy, Adel Abdul Mahdi. Nevertheless, the Kurdish Brotherhood List at the Kirkuk Governorate Council held an extraordinary meeting on the 31/7/2008. The 24 members of the 41-member of the Kirkuk Governorate Council presented a request to the Kurdistan Region Government and the Iraqi parliament to make the governorate part of
    Kurdistan Region as they believe that Article 140 of the Constitution has not been implemented and that Article 24 of the Provincial Council Election Draft Law does not meet their ambitions.

    Whereas the Turkmen and Arabs regarded this extraordinary session as illegal. Also the Turkmen leadership has requested to replace the Kurdish police in Kirkuk with army forces from central and southern Iraq, the
    postponement of the elections and adaptation of the division of Kirkuk to the three constituencies include the proportion of 32 % for both Arabs and Kurds and Turkmen and 4% for Assyrians In the meantime, on the 31/7/2008, a statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry was released regarding the issue of Kirkuk, which stated that the Turkish Foreign Ministry were concerned and were deeply alarmed about the demand by some members of the governorate of Kirkuk, regarding a Kurdish list to join the Northern Department. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign affairs said in a statement: ‘We in Turkey express our deep concern on what we see and what happened in the governorate of Kirkuk where some members agreed to join the Council in Kirkuk to the
    north of Iraq and Turkey’s position on Kirkuk would not have ever changed in the present and future and the Arab and Turkmen called this moves by the Kurd as a provocation.’

    Mofak Salman

    Turkmeneli Party Representative for Both Ireland and United Kingdom [email protected]

    [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.