Turkish Forum

Tag: Kirkuk

  • A CALL TO THE FREE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD

    A CALL TO THE FREE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD

    Turkistan Newsletter Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:55:27
    Turkistan Bulteni ISSN:1386-6265
    Uze Tengri basmasar asra yer telinmeser, Turk bodun ilining torugin
    kem artati, udaci erti. [Bilge Kagan in Orkhon inscriptions]
    <<>><<>><>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><

    A CALL TO THE FREE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD

    There has been another vicious attack on the peaceful Turkmen people of Iraq.  On Saturday June 21, 2009, a truck bomb exploded in the busiest center of the town of Tuz Khurmatu (pop. 15000), 10 miles south of Kerkuk, at noon, killing more than 75 and wounding more than 200.

    This has been the latest in the chain of attacks against the Turkmens in
    Telafer, Kerkuk, Tuz Khurmatu and Amirli. Those attacks are particularly
    are directed upon the armless and defenseless Turkmens who are not allowed by the governing circles in Iraq to have any defense forces, where others have. The Iraqi police and army failed to stop these attacks in past and it will not be able to achieve that in the future.

    We are asking the President of Iraq, Mr. Talabani, the Prime Minister, Mr.
    Maliki and all political parties and members of the Iraqi parliament, to
    allow the Turkmens their right to defend themselves and form the law
    enforcement units of each locality from the local Turkmens.  In small communities, local police members, usually recognize outsiders, who might be suspected terrorists.

    We in the Union of the Diaspora Turkmens (UDT) ask all the free peoples and
    organizations of the world to help us by putting pressure from their side,
    upon the Iraqi government and the parliament to grant the Turkmens their
    right to defend themselves and form the law enforcement units of each
    locality from the local Turkmens.

    Otherwise these tragedies and the human suffering will continue.

    UNION OF THE DIASPORA TURKMENS
    (UDT)
    turkmencenter@yahoo.com

  • Report for Obama: How to Disarm the PKK

    Report for Obama: How to Disarm the PKK

    Academic Barkey from Lehigh University has prepared a report on conflict prevention in Kurdistan for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

    Bıa news centre – Washington

    12-02-2009


    Erhan ÜSTÜNDAĞ

    Professor Henri J. Barkey, chair of the International Relations department at Lehigh University, USA, has prepared a report entitled “Preventing Conflict over Kurdistan” for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

    The report tells the new Obama administration that the Kirkuk issue is pressing. However, the priority must be the solution of Turkey’s domestic Kurdish issue.

    Kurdish issue needs to be handled with care

    The website of the Carnegie Endowment introduces the report, saying:

    “The invasion of Iraq has surfaced long-suppressed nationalist aspirations among the Kurds, most notably the emergence of the federal Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). If ignored or mishandled, Kurdish aspirations have the potential to ignite violence and instability in Iraq, as well as the region, at a particularly delicate time.”

    In the report, Barkey warns that US influence in the region will decrease if US forces withdraw from Iraq, one of the main promises of Obama’s election campaign. The academic suggests the following policies:

    • Break the deadlock between the Iraqi government and the KRG over oil and gas revenue sharing and refugee resettlement. This will go a long way toward rebuilding trust and preventing Kirkuk from becoming a flashpoint—the first priority for the United States.
    • Continue to support the federal system outlined in Iraq’s constitution and avoid any suggestion that Iraq be partitioned.
    • Solidify the dialogue between Turkey and the KRG through U.S. involvement. Warming relations between Turkey and the KRG would stabilize the region and aid in a smooth U.S. troop withdrawal.
    • Demobilize the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and encourage its fighters to disarm or defect under a joint political and military effort coordinated by the KRG, Turkey, and the United States.
    • Work with European allies to resolve Turkey’s internal Kurdish disputes. Supporting Turkey’s counterterrorism program and its bid for EU accession, and providing development assistance in Turkey’s Kurdish regions would allow the U.S. and Europe to address problems from both sides.

    Barkey warns that the leftist and rightist nationalist movements in Turkey, as well as the army, need to be convinced to accept Iraq’s federal structure.

    Amnesty and disarmament in Turkey

    As far as PKK disarmament is concerned, Turkey must issue an amnesty. PKK militants should hand their arms over to the US, with Turkey monitoring the process. He believes that a transparent disarmament process would help to get public opinion to support it. As for the leadership of the PKK, they must be allowed to leave the region safely.

    Following these steps, so Barkey, Iraqi Kurds would have to announce that they would not tolerate any remaining PKK presence, and the KRG must control the area. US military support might be available at this point.

    Barkey argues that Europe must also take part in this process, and that the PKK must dissolve PJAK, the Iranian branch of the PKK.

    He also believes that US and European leaders should have direct contact with nonviolent Kurdish leaders in Turkey.

    The report was introduced at a panel moderated by Marina Ottaway. Barkey discussed the report with Qubad Talabani, a representative of the KRG, and Ian Lesser of the German Marshall Fund.(EÜ/AG)

    Source: bianet.org, 12.02.2009

    Full text is HERE

  • INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP – NEW REPORT Oil for Soil: A Grand Bargain on Iraq and the Kurds

    INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP – NEW REPORT Oil for Soil: A Grand Bargain on Iraq and the Kurds

     

    Kirkuk/Brussels, 28 October 2008: Rising acrimony over disputed territories will undermine still fragile progress in Iraq unless a package deal is reached over oil, revenue sharing, federalism and the constitution.

    Oil for Soil: Toward a Grand Bargain on Iraq and the Kurds,* the latest report from the International Crisis Group, offers a bold proposal for resolving the long-festering conflict over Kirkuk and other disputed territories that threatens to disrupt Iraq’s relative peace.

    “In its ethnically-driven intensity and its ability to drag in regional players such as Turkey and Iran, the Kirkuk issue can have a devastating impact on efforts to rebuild a fragmented state”, says Joost Hiltermann, Crisis Group’s Middle East Deputy Program Director. “This conflict potentially matches or even exceeds the Sunni-Shiite divide that spawned the 2005-2007 sectarian war”.

    Despite some progress, Iraq’s legislative agenda is bogged down primarily by a dispute over territories claimed by the Kurds as historically belonging to them – territories that contain as much as 13 per cent of Iraq’s proven oil reserves. Stymied in their quest to incorporate these territories into the Kurdistan region by constitutional means, due mainly to the suspicions of Iraq’s Arab majority that their real goal is independence, Kurdish leaders have signalled their intent to hold politics in Baghdad hostage. At the same time, the Iraqi government’s growing military assertiveness is challenging the Kurds’ de facto control over the territories.

    The current piecemeal approach should be discarded in favour of a grand bargain involving all core issues: Kirkuk and other disputed territories, revenue-sharing and the hydrocarbons law, as well as federalism and constitutional revisions. A sober assessment of all sides’ core requirements suggests a possible package deal around an “oil-for-soil” trade-off: in exchange for at least deferring their exclusive claim on Kirkuk for a decade, the Kurds would obtain demarcation and security guarantees for their internal boundary with the rest of Iraq, as well as the right to manage and profit from their own mineral wealth.

    This package demands painful concessions from all sides, which they are unlikely to make without strong international involvement. The UN mission (UNAMI) will need stronger backing from the U.S. and its allies. Washington should make it a priority to steer politicians toward the grand bargain, while securing it through political, financial and diplomatic support.

    “There is little time to waste. As U.S. forces are set to draw down, Washington’s leverage will diminish, as will chances for a workable deal”, warns Robert Malley, Crisis Group’s Middle East & North Africa Program Director. “The likeliest alternative is a new outbreak of violent strife over unsettled claims in a fragmented polity governed by chaos and fear”.

    Contacts: Andrew Stroehlein (Brussels) +32 (0) 2 541 1635
    Kimberly Abbott (Washington) +1 202 785 1601
    To contact Crisis Group media please click here
    *Read the full Crisis Group report on our website: http://www.crisisgroup.org

    The International Crisis Group (Crisis Group) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation covering some 60 crisis-affected countries and territories across four continents, working through field-based analysis and high-level advocacy to prevent and resolve deadly conflict.