Turkish Forum

Tag: TURKMEN

  • 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 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.

  • The Kurdish terror in north of Iraq

    The Kurdish terror in north of Iraq

    By Mofak Salman

    Mr. Lokman Nejam Ahmed was born in 1st July 1968 in the district of Telkeef that is linked to the city of city of Mosul.  He was arrested on the 8th of July 2007 on the Iraqi/Turkish border Ibrahim Alkhalil by the Kurdish secret police that are known as Asayish while he was travelling from the city of Mosul to Turkey with a group of a Turkmen [1] from the city of Erbil.

    Mr. Lokman Nejam Ahmed was working as a deputy of the ITF (Iraqi Turkmen Front) in the city of Mosul and according to the witnesses who were with him at the time. They have confirmed that Mr. Lokman Nejam was forced out of his car by the Kurdish police at the Iraqi Turkish border Ibrahim Alkhalil by the Asayish.

    However, after months following his arrest his family with the help of Kurdish friends have managed to find out that he has been imprisoned in the city of Duhok by the Kurdish authorities.

    Only his immediate family has been allowed to visit him in prison. His family is allowed visit him once every two months. Mr. Lokman Nejam has been accused of various unfounded accusations and nevertheless the Kurdish police have totally failed to produce any evidence or proof of his illegal involvement against the Kurdish authorities.

    Thus Mr. Lokman Nejam Ahmed’s family have approached the deputy governor of the city of Mosul for help and support but unfortunately no support was provided. In my personal opinion the Turkmen people in Turkmeneli [2] and especially the ITF members have been continuously arrested, imprisoned, tortured and treated inhumanely by the Kurdish police only for being Turkmen as this happened recently to a teacher called Ganim Mahmud who is 60 years old, he was tortured and insulted by the Kurdish authority in north of Iraq but later on Mr. Ganim Mahmud was released after a month of continuous torturing and was asked why his nephew is helping the Turkmen teachers in promoting Turkmen teaching.

    Mr. Lokman Nejam Ahmed has been kept in the Kurdish prison without formal charges and his case has not been submitted to the court. Thus, the Turkmens plight to all the human right organisations, government officials, intellectuals, Iraqi and Turkish government for immediate intervention to put pressure on the Kurdish police whom are terrorising the Turkmen people in Turkmeneli.

     

    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, which increased their numbers and enabled them to establish six states in Iraq.

  • Turkmens, Turkmeneli and the Musul Region

    Turkmens, Turkmeneli and the Musul Region

    Orhan Ketene

    Northern Iraq or the Musul Region is home of the Iraqi Turkmens for over a millennium. The economic and strategic importance of this land, had made it one of the most sensitive parts of the Middle East in general and of Iraq in particular.

    Introduction :
    Turkmen is the name of the Turks inhabiting the Musul region and the rest of Iraq. Turkmeneli means Turkmen-Land in Turkish. It is the name of areas where Turkmens are concentrated.

    Musul Region is the Northern part of Iraq that is naturally separated from the rest of Iraq by Himrin and Mechul mountains. It is a multi-ethnic region that includes the homelands of the Turkmens (Turkmeneli), of the Kurds (Kurdistan), of the Jazira Arabs (west of Tigris) of the Assyrians (Plains of Ninewah) as well as Ezdi and Shahbek minorities.

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    Part I Part II

  • 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.

  • The reality of the Kurdish violence in Kirkuk

    The reality of the Kurdish violence in Kirkuk

    Mofak Salman Kerkuklu

    ITF Turkmen in Kirkuk after being attacked by the Kurds

    In the middle of August 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 August 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. 

    On the 27th of July 2008 the secret police that are linked to both Kurdish parties distributed leaflets informing the people of Kirkuk, especially the Turkmen to participate in a protest that had been organised by the Kurds against the adoption of the law of elections for provincial assemblies causing a postponement of elections in the city for an indefinite period. Also the Kurdish police whom accompanied the Kurdish Asayish informed the Turkmen shop owners to close their shops and anyone who opened his shop would be subjected to punishment and his shop will be ransacked. The Kurdish Asayish separated roamers that all the governmental buildings would be close and the Kurdish directors in Kirkuk informed the Turkmen employees not to attend to work and anyone failing to do so he/she will be punished and his wages will be cut. 

    As the result of this, the Turkmen population in the Kirkuk was extremely worried and concerned as this event reminded the Turkmen of the Kurdish massacre of the Turkmen in 1959, when Turkmen were burned, killed,/executed. Some were attached to ropes and pulled behind cars in the mains street of Kirkuk by the Kurds and some communist party members. As a result, panic among the Turkmen population in Kirkuk caused them to approach the Turkmen member of the Kirkuk governing council Mr. Hassan Turan and Turkmen Chief of Police Burhan Tayip, asking for advice and help. 

    So on the 27th of July both Mr. Hassan Turan approached the Kirkuk governor Mr. Mustafa Abdullrahman who is a Kurd. After a lengthy meeting and discussion with him on this subject, Mr. Mustafa Abdullrahman acknowledged to Mr. Hassan Tuan that a Kurdish protest has been organised and he assured Mr. Hassan Turan but all the government offices shall be opened and participation in the demonstration is not compulsory. 

    But on the afternoon and evening of the 27th of July Mr. Hassan Turan and Turkmen Chief Police in Kirkuk Mr. Burhan Tayip and also Turhan Abdurrahman appeared on Turkmeneli TV advising the worried Turkmen population about the demonstration. What they have to do. Measures that are needed to be taken and both advised the Turkmen citizens to carry out their normal business. Shop keepers are free to open their shops and all governmental offices would open and no one should be forced to participate in this demonstration. He also mentioned that the Kurds have the right to demonstrate in order to express their protest. Both advised the population to be calm and avoid any provocation that might be implemented by the other side (which he meant by the Kurds). 

    In the meantime, the Kirkuk governor Mr., Mustafa Abdullrahman who is a Kurd never appeared on the TV or on radio to assure the population in Kirkuk this is going to be a Kurdish demonstration and no one is forced to attend this protest. Whereas the Kurdish directors for many government offices have openly threatened Turkmens staff their salaries will be cut if they do not participate in the protest. The Kurdish police have threatened the shop keepers to close their shops and any shop that opens will be looted and destroyed.

    In the meantime on the 27th of July, mini bus drivers owned by the Turkmen reported that their car disc and certificate of Insurance had been forcedly taken by the Kurdish police and they were informed this would be returned when these drivers transport the Kurdish demonstrators to the meeting point free of charge.

    On the 28th of July, prior to the demonstration the local government in Kirkuk and Kurdish-led personnel of the two Kurdish parties blocked all road access that lead to government works places. They set up various checking point in order to prevent the people from going to their work.

    The shop keepers were forced to close their shops and Kurdish director in various governmental offices locked the main doors to prevent the people from attending their work place and forced the employees to participate in the demonstration. 

    At about 9.00am, approximately three thousand Kurdish protesters gathered near Turkmen Castel (Qelat Kirkuk) as a meeting point to commence their protest towards the Kirkuk governing in order to show their anger and to condemn the adoption of the law of elections for provincial assemblies and causing a postponement of elections in the city for an indefinite period by the Iraqi government. 

    Since the security of the town is controlled by both the US forces and the police in Kirkuk, thus they were obliged to guarantee the safety and security for the people in Kirkuk, but it was negligence on behalf of the US forces for granting permission for the Kurdish protest to go ahead and especially allowing the Kurdish protestors to pass through a routes that are mainly Turkmen neighbourhood, This protest was designed by the Kurds to show their mussels and to provoke the Turkmen population in the town. Nevertheless, the demonstration commenced from Qelat Kirkuk toward the Kirkuk governing office to demand the holding of elections and the application of Article 140 for the normalization of the situation in the province. 

    According to the eyewitness, Kurdish demonstrators, Kurdish police wearing civil clothes were brought from outside of the Turkmen city of Kirkuk such as Erbil and Suleymaniyah by mini buses, private cars and police cars. This was to mislead the media and to show the world that the overwhelming population of Kirkuk was refusing the decision of the Iraqi central government towards the adoption of the law of elections for provincial assemblies causing a postponement of elections in the city for an indefinite period. 

    The Kurdish demonstrators prior the demonstration were seen carrying automatic weapons, pistols, iron bars, baseball bats and Kurdish flags. The protestors were escorted and protected by the local police forces that mainly consist of Kurds and also Kurdish secret service police who are known as Asayish.

    The Kurdish protestors walked through the street of Kirkuk and chanting patriotic songs and provocation slogans against the Arabs and the Turkmens. Almost at 11am on the 28/7/2008 at the [Nafura] fountain area opposite to the Kirkuk governate, an explosion occurred and according to the Kurdish police, the explosion was caused by a female suicide bomber. Killing at least 22 and injuring at least 120 while the Kurdish were demonstrating but no one claimed responsibility for the bombing, which bore the hallmarks of Sunni Arab extremists. Nonetheless, many in the crowd blamed Kurds extremists for the attack. 

    After the explosion, the Kurdish guards started to open fire, shooting into the air as “Najat Hassam, a senior member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), quoted by AFP as saying.”More people responded to the gunfire with heavy shooting. The rumours in the towns was that the Kurdish police carried out this attack in order to create chaos, instability and to show the world that they are the victims but the more realistic reason was that to create a civil war thus the Kurdish militia would have a good reason to enter the town with large numbers of Kurdish militia. 

    Turkmen properties after being attacked by the Kurds

    But within a few minutes, rumours and misleading information was started by the Kurdish police stating, the explosion was caused by the Turkmen. The Kurdish Asayish started directing the protestors to attack the Turkmen targets in the city of Kirkuk. Elsewhere, the media started broadcasting Kurdish news claiming that the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) guards opened fire on the Kurdish demonstrators and that the Kurdish demonstrators defended themselves by replying back. 

    The protesters attacked the headquarters of the ITF party headquarters, the head quarter of the political prisoners and families of martyrs, Sonuber hotel, Turkmen shops and Turkmen properties. But the most striking thing was that the Turkmeneli TV Station was attacked and its content was burnt prior to the blast.

    The ITF head office is approximately a distance of one kilometer away from the site of the blast and the ITF headquarters is located in a residential area and not on the main street as was stated by the Kurdish media. 

    A large number of Kurdish armed demonstrators escorted with Kurdish police opened heavy fire to the Turkmen guards whom were guarding the building which this resulted injury one of the guards, including the head of the security personnel. They set ablaze to their vehicles; the demonstrators later attacked Turkmen properties and the set a light to the cars and properties of the Turkmen people. Then the Kurdish Asayish burst into the ITF office and burnt it contents and cause a tremendous damages to the building and its contents. Then the Kurdish secret police kidnapped five Turkmen guards including the injured person. 

    One of the ITF guards was wounded and after they ran out of ammunition no help arrived from the police. Then the ITF building was stormed by the Kurdish secret police and the armed demonstrators. The five Turkmen guards including the injured guard were taken to the undisclosed location by the Kurdish Asayish.

    Then the content of the Iraqi ITF building was ransacked and its content was set on the fire. Staff cars and ITF cars were set on fire and all this happened in the presence of the local Kirkuk police whom are mainly Kurds. All these atrocities occurred in the front of the eyes US forces and local police. The police forces in Kirkuk didn’t take any action against the protesters but kept watching them. 

    ITF in Kirkuk after being attacked by Kurdish militia
    Turkmen properties being attacked by the Kurds
    ITF in Kirkuk after being attacked by Kurdish militia

    But the most interesting thing was that after the explosion Mr.Yahya Albarzenchi, of Kurdish origin, a Cameraman working for Associated Press was taking images for the Kurdish protestors who are attacking the Turkmen, but unfortunately the protestors thought that Mr. Yahiya Albarzenchi is a Turkmen citizen working for the Turkmeneli TV station as a Cameraman. He was immediately attacked by the Kurdish crowds with fists, sticks, iron bars and was kicked variously while he was lying on the ground unconscious. The footage of the attack on the Mr.Yahya Albarzenchi the cameraman working for Associated Press was shown frequently on the Turkmeneli TV Satellite on the 30th of July 2008. The Turkmeneli TV showed how the Kurdish mobs had beaten Mr.Yahya Albarzenchi even when he was unconscious on the ground. But prior to this film footage the Kurdish police announced that the Mr.Yahya Albarzenchi was among the dead during the blast. 

    Turkmen properties being attacked by the Kurds

    After the explosion, the Kurdish police had set up check point on the road that leads into and out of Kirkuk. Cars were stopped and searched. Turkmen individuals were taken out of the car and attacked, beaten, abused and their car was smashed before leaving the check point. The attack on the Turkmens was widely condemned by Iraqi politicians, civil organizations and Turkmen organisations but the most striking thing was that Kirkuk governor and Iraqi president Jalal Talabani whom both is Kurds did not condemn the attack on the Turkmen in Kirkuk. 

    Turkmen properties being attacked by the Kurds

    The problem of Kirkuk is not a constitutional one but lies in the ambiguity of Article 140. According to article 140 of Iraqi constitution, the problem of the disputed areas, notably the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, addressed three stages of a normalization and then to conduct a census among the population, followed by a referendum on the fate of areas which will decide whether Kirkuk will join the Conservatives or the Kurdistan region. It was supposed to accomplish those stages during a maximum period of 31 December last year a deadline which was extended by the united nation representative without the approval of the central government for six months ending on June 30th.

    Turkmen properties being attacked by the Kurds

    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.’ 

    However, on the 2/8/2008 the Arabs in the distrust of Hawija demonstrated against the Kurdish decision and the Turkmeneli Camera was there to show the plight of the Arabs. He was arrested when he returned to the check point that was set up by the Kurdish police at the entrance to Kirkuk. He was interrogated, abused verbally and physically. 

    Mofak salman Kerkuklu graduated in England with a BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Oxford Brookes University and completed an MSc in Medical Electronics and Physics at London University and an MSc in Computing Science and Information Technology at South Bank University. He is also a Chartered Engineer from the Institution of Engineers of Ireland. Mr.Mofak Salman is the author of Brief History of Iraqi Turkmen and Turkmen of Iraq and The Turkmen City of Tuz Khormatu. He is the Turkmeneli Party representative for both the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. He has had a large number of articles published in various newspapers and websites.

    This book was written with four clear purposes in mind: firstly, to make an assessment of the current position of Turkmen in Kirkuk; secondly, to highlight the oppression of Turkmen after the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime; thirdly, to introduce a brief history of the Turkmen in Iraq to the world; and finally, to draw the world’s attention to the situation and the oppression of Turkmen in Iraq and also to reveal the Kurdish atrocities against the Turkmen

  • Kurds ask for US bases to be built near Iran border

    Kurds ask for US bases to be built near Iran border

    As part of a long-term security agreement with Iraq, US forces could be stationed in Kurdistan. [sic.]

    The Iraqi government and the head of northern Iraq’s regional Kurdish administration, Massoud Barzani, have suggested to military officials that US forces be permanently based in Kurdistan. [sic.]

    Mr Barzani has said a permanent US military presence in the Kurdistan region would defend Iraq from internal and external risks.

    On hearing the request, US Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama said it would be appropriate to redeploy US troops there in the future.

    Mr Obama is known to believe troops stationed in the Kurdistan [sic.] area are not in any great danger.

    There are currently no US airbases in Kurdistan, [sic.] although there are two Air Force facilities in neighbouring provinces.

    The US military has denied any intention of building a US air base, but Kurdish sources have said if the US military decides to establish a permanent presence it will be closer to the Iraqi-Iranian border.

    Source: BirminghamStar.com, 22nd July, 2008