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As Turkey-Iraq crisis escalates, US plans military strikes on PKK bases

2007-10-25T10:26:00.000+02:00

With the Turkish military poised to strike the guerrilla bases of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, Washington and London are engaged in frantic diplomatic activity to prevent a Turkish intervention that would further destabilise the US occupation of Iraq. However, as the Chicago Tribune reported yesterday, the Bush administration is also drawing up plans for military attacks on the PKK, either by US forces or jointly with the Turkish army.
The Turkish government has seized on recent PKK attacks inside Turkey to justify a huge military buildup along the border with Iraq. At least 60,000 heavily-armed soldiers, backed by tanks, artillery, warplanes and helicopter gunships, have been assembled to hit PKK camps in the rugged Qandil Mountains bordering Iraq, Iran and Turkey. Last week, the Turkish parliament voted overwhelmingly to authorise the government to order cross-border operations.
On Sunday, tensions reached boiling point after some 200 PKK rebels attacked a Turkish army post, killing at least 12 soldiers and capturing eight others. The Turkish military counterattacked, pursuing the guerrillas over the border into Iraq. According to the Turkish press, combat aircraft hit more than 60 targets inside Iraq. However, Turkey held back from launching a large-scale invasion into Iraq’s Kurdish north.
The Turkish government is insisting that the US and Iraq take action to destroy the PKK’s bases, capture the PKK leaders and hand them over to Ankara. In response, the US and Britain pressed the Iraqi government and the Kurdish regional government to deal with the PKK. A series of meetings over the past two days in Washington, London and Baghdad has failed to the resolve the issue.
After speaking to Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ominously warned: “We cannot wait forever... We have to make our own decision.” In Baghdad, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, while calling for a diplomatic solution, rejected out-of-hand the suggestion of a ceasefire with the PKK, which he insisted was a “terrorist organisation”.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack described the frenzy of diplomatic activity as a “full-court press” by Bush administration officials to prevent a Turkish invasion of northern Iraq. The basketball analogy, however, implies a planned strategy. It would be more appropriate to describe the US response as one of sheer panic as the consequences of the Bush administration’s criminal invasion of Iraq and its reckless preparations for a new war on Iran come home to roost.
The Kurdish north of Iraq is routinely hailed as the great success story of the US occupation. In reality, it is a highly unstable house of cards. As the pay off for their backing of the US invasion in 2003, the Bush administration allowed the two major Kurdish nationalist parties—the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)—to establish an autonomous region in three northern provinces. From the outset, Turkish leaders regarded the regional government as a threat that would encourage broader Kurdish separatist sentiment. They were particularly hostile to its demands for control of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, which has a sizeable Turkmen population, and the surrounding oil fields.
The failure of the US to take any action against PKK guerrillas entrenched in the Qandil Mountains has only heightened tensions with Turkey. The PKK and its sister organisation, the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), which operates inside Iran, have been allowed to function freely in Iraq’s northern provinces, obtaining supplies and finance through its major cities. Despite denials, there is ample evidence that the US and Israel have been covertly arming and training PJAK guerrillas as a means of gathering intelligence inside Iran and destabilising the Iranian regime. The New York Times, for instance, published a lengthy story yesterday citing a PJAK leader as saying there was “normal dialogue” with American officials.
The lack of any clear cut dividing line between the PJAK and PKK—both groups operate from the same mountainous areas, share a similar Kurdish separatist program and common origins—only underscores the Bush administration’s hypocrisy and cynicism. To keep US ally Turkey on side, the US has branded the PKK as a terrorist organisation, but not the PJAK.
Any Turkish attack on the PKK/PJAK bases and Kurdish villages in Iraq would inevitably provoke an angry reaction among Iraqi Kurds and threaten to draw in Kurdish peshmerga militia units and the Iraqi army. Such a move would be deeply destabilising, not only for the Kurdish regional government, but also the Iraqi government in Baghdad, which relies heavily on PUK/KDP support.
US military preparations
Washington is clearly desperate to prevent a Turkish military intervention in Iraq or a breach in the US/Turkish alliance. Quite apart from long-term strategic considerations, the US military funnels around 70 percent of its air cargo to Iraq via a major US air base in southern Turkey. At the same time, more than 1,000 Turkish troops are in Afghanistan as part of NATO forces, helping to prop up the US-led occupation of that country.
While publicly calling for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, the Bush administration is also making preparations for a military assault on PKK bases. President Bush spoke to Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Monday via telephone. According to White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe, Bush offered reassurances to Gul that the US would work with Turkey and Iraq “to combat PKK terrorists operating out of northern Iraq”.
The Chicago Tribune yesterday reported that military action was discussed. An unnamed US official familiar with the Bush/Gul conversation told the newspaper that the US was seriously looking into options beyond diplomacy to deal with the PKK. “It’s not ‘Kumbaya’ time anymore—just talking about trilateral talks is not going to be enough. Something has to be done,” the official said.
A range of military options were being considered, including air strikes and the use of cruise missiles against PKK bases. Another option discussed was to persuade the Kurdish regional government to use its militia forces to establish a cordon around the mountains where the PKK is entrenched, in order to choke off its supply routes. The deployment of US troops to hit the PKK was considered to be a final resort.
Highlighting the fears in Washington, the US official told the Chicago Tribune: “In the past, there has been reluctance to engage in direct US military action against the PKK, either through air strikes or some kind of Special Forces action. But the red line was always, if the Turks were going to come over the border, it could be so destabilising that it might be less risky for us to do something ourselves. Now the Turks are at the end of their rope, and our risk calculus is changing.”
Bush’s discussion with Gul followed an urgent telephone call on Sunday by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, urging him to hold back from an immediate military attack inside northern Iraq. Chicago Tribune reported that Erdogan had given a 72-hour reprieve on any cross-border attack. The Turkish government is under pressure from the military and opposition parties, particularly extreme right-wing nationalists, to launch a military operation. At the same time, however, it is deeply concerned about an open breach with the US and the consequences of war that threatens to be inconclusive and could become a broader regional conflict.
An article posted on the Thomson Financial web site indicated that the US and Turkey may be planning a combined military operation against the PKK. As he flew to London on Monday, Erdogan told reporters: “We may conduct a joint operation with the United States against the PKK in northern Iraq... We expect to work jointly, just as we do in Afghanistan.” Speaking of his conversation with Rice the previous day, he added: “She was worried. I saw she was in favour of a joint operation. She asked for a few days time and said she would come back to us.”
The Iraqi Kurdish nationalist parties are obviously alarmed. By slavishly supporting the US occupation of Iraq, the PUK and KDP calculated that they would have American backing to establish their own small political and business empire in northern Iraq that would eventually include the oil-rich region around Kirkuk. Having declared that it would resist any Turkish invasion, the regional government is now under pressure from its American sponsors to take action itself against the PKK. Its jealously guarded “autonomy” is rapidly crumbling under the pressure of demands from Ankara and Washington.
After discussions at the White House, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, a member of the PUK, told the Brookings Institute on Monday: “My worry is that there are demands of the KRG and the Iraqi government to ‘fight the PKK’. That could well be a recipe for an open-ended conflict in which we will not win and will basically destabilise the only stable part of Iraq.”
There is a long history of the sordid manoeuvres by various Kurdish nationalist politicians with the major powers ending in disaster for the Kurdish people. The present situation is no different. The “stable” north of Iraq may well become the new battleground for “an open-ended conflict”. Those immediately responsible are the PUK and KDP leaders who tied the fate of Iraqi Kurds to the Bush administration and its criminal occupation of Iraq.
See Also:Conflict between Turkey and the US intensifies[17 October 2007]Turkish government gives green light for military intervention in northern Iraq[15 October 2007]Bush condemns House vote on Armenian genocide[12 October 2007]Washington's proxy war inside Kurdish Iran[20 September 2007]

Turkmens get ahead in Kirkuk talks through US push on Kurds

2007-08-30T00:31:00.000+02:00

Ahmet Muratlı, the Iraqi Turkmen Front's (ITC) representative in Ankara, sounded hopeful on Tuesday regarding progress in ongoing negotiations between the Turkmen and Arab blocs and the Kurds in the strategically vital northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. He stressed that a recent attitude of compromise on the part of the Kurdish side was the fruit of the Turkmen and Arab blocs' tough bargaining as well as US officials' pressure on the Kurds.

Ahmet Muratlı
At the moment Kurds hold 26 seats in Kirkuk's 41-member provincial council. There are nine Turkmen and six Arab members, all of whom have been boycotting meetings for months in support of their demands for a fair distribution of the government posts.
"Particularly following recent remarks by US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, who earlier this month said a referendum that will determine the future status of Kirkuk is unlikely to proceed as planned, the Iraqi Kurds' attitude has become more compromising than earlier as they have understood they can no longer pretend as if everything is on track in Kirkuk," Muratlı said in a brief interview with Today's Zaman on Tuesday. In June a Turkmen delegation led by ITC head Saadettin Ergeç had talks with senior officials in the US capital and voiced uneasiness with the fact that the normalization of security sought by the Iraqi constitution, which is a must for holding the planned referendum, hasn't occurred in the city. In the last 10 days, US government and military officials held secret talks in Kirkuk with both Iraqi Kurds and the Turkmen and Arab blocs, Muratlı explained.
"The US officials have been pressuring the Kurds because they want to see concrete progress in the city that they can promote by taking note of it on a report that will be represented to the president next month," Muratlı said, referring to the fact that Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, and Crocker will represent their views on Iraq to US President George W. Bush and Congress in a report during the first half of September.
Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution stipulates a Dec. 31 deadline this year for the Kirkuk referendum. A process of "normalization" is continuing now for reversing the effects of former leader Saddam Hussein's policy of driving the Kurds out of a string of northern cities and replacing them with Arabs. The constitutional timetable also stipulated a census be completed by the end of July, but neither this nor "normalization" have been implemented.
In a letter dated Aug.13 and sent to both Arab and Turkmen members of the city council in an effort to persuade them to end their boycott of the council, Iraqi Kurds offered two deputy governorships -- one to each of the two groups. Yet, according to the local administration law adopted following the US-led invasion of the country in 2003, every province has a governing council, and the council's head can only have one deputy. Additionally there is one governor and one deputy governor.
Muratlı said their hard bargaining would continue and that they wanted the governorship of Kirkuk. Turkmens also want their language to be used as an official language in addition to Arabic and Kurdish in the city. "We want our language to be used in official plates at schools, hospitals and the like," he said.
Another important bargaining issue for Turkmens and Arabs is a fair allocation of the crucial posts in the province, including the chief of police, the municipality, the land registry and the census office, which were seized by the Kurds once they secured a majority on the council.

Turkoman Movement Sues Iraqi Kurdistan President, Urges Article 140 Delay

2007-08-21T10:33:00.000+02:00

BBC Monitoring Middle East, 2007-08-20
Text of report from Arbil by Bizhar Shwani entitled: "The Independent Turkoman Movement calls for the delay of Article 140, prefers protection of Kirkuk to be handed over to the Iraqi government, not to peshmerga"; published by Iraqi Pro-Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) weekly newspaper Chawder on 20 August
The chairman of the Independent Turkoman Movement, Kan'an Shakir, has told Chawder that they called for the postponement of [the implementation of constitutional] Article 140 for the normalization of Kirkuk. He added: "It would be better to hand over the mission of protecting Kirkuk to the Iraqi government, not to the peshmerga, because if Kirkuk is under the control of one side it would become uneven."
Shakir said that they had lodged a lawsuit against Kurdistan Region President Mas'ud Barzani over the events of August 1996. [In August 1996 the Kurdistan Democratic Party sought the help of Saddam Husain's army in order to take over the city of Arbil from the then rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan; Turkomans claim that many of them were captured by Iraqi forces during the event]
The aforementioned person said: "Democracy is not valued in Kurdistan Region, and the Turkomans' rights have been undermined in the interests of others."
He said that the Kurdish authorities have not supported Turkomans.
Originally published by Chawder, Sulaymaniyah, in Sorani Kurdish 20 Aug 07 p2.
(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Middle East. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

ITC'den Barzaniye Terörizm Yasası

2007-08-05T09:56:00.000+02:00

Iraqi Turkoman Front Calls on Government to Use Anti-Terror Law Against Barzani

Iraqi Turkoman Front Calls on Government to Use Anti-Terror Law Against Barzani
BBC Monitoring Middle East, 2007-08-03
Text of report by Frman Abd-al-Rahman entitled "Turkoman Front calls on Iraqi government to treat Barzani according to anti-terror law", carried by Sbay media website of former PUK deputy leader Nawshirwan Mustafa's Wisha Company on 3 August
The Turkoman Front has called on the Iraqi government to take a stance on Kurdistan Region President Mas'ud Barzani's statement, described by the Front as "threats against all political components of Iraq and the neighbouring countries". The front also called on all Iraqi forces to take a clear stance on those threats.

Iraqi Turkoman Front Calls on Government to Use Anti-Terror Law Against Barzani

2007-08-05T09:52:00.000+02:00

BBC Monitoring Middle East, 2007-08-03
Text of report by Frman Abd-al-Rahman entitled "Turkoman Front calls on Iraqi government to treat Barzani according to anti-terror law", carried by Sbay media website of former PUK deputy leader Nawshirwan Mustafa's Wisha Company on 3 August
The Turkoman Front has called on the Iraqi government to take a stance on Kurdistan Region President Mas'ud Barzani's statement, described by the Front as "threats against all political components of Iraq and the neighbouring countries". The front also called on all Iraqi forces to take a clear stance on those threats.
In a statement published on Thursday [2 August], a copy of which was obtained by the Sbay website, the Turkoman Front described the Kurdistan Region president's statement as "political bankruptcy".
The statement said: "We call on the Iraqi government to adopt legal measures within the anti-terror law against Barzani's statements, which smells of terrorism."
In an exclusive statement for Sbay, Turkoman Front Executive Council member Jamal Shan described Barzani's statement as "a harsh and dangerous statement on Iraq and Kirkuk". Shan added: "Barzani's statement was a political adventure towards the political achievements of the Kurds in the new Iraqi government. For if a civil war, as he says breaks out, the whole of Iraq, not only Kirkuk, will suffer disaster and destruction."
The Turkoman Front official added: "We will not adopt military procedures, but we called on the Iraqi government to take an appropriate action and take a stance in this regard."
Shan said that such statements was not in anyone's interest and that the presence of the Americans would prevent the eruption of another war in the region, adding that those who attacked would always suffer more casualties than those who defend.
Shan said: "The Kirkuk problem is like the Darfur and Kosovo problem and should be resolved through the UN."
It is worth noting that Barzani said in an interview with Al- Hurrah TV: "If Article 140 is not implemented, then a real civil war will break out."
[Article 140 calls for the normalization of the status of Kirkuk by the end of 2007].
In the same context, head of the Kurdistan Region Presidency Office Fuad Husayn told Sbay: "We are not aware of the Turkoman Front's statement. President Barzani has a steady and clear policy regarding the general issues in Iraq and Kurdistan. He will not give up his policies for anyone's sake." Husayn added: "We cannot react to each and every statement of the Turkoman Front or others or deny all their statements."
(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Middle East. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Barzani Threatens Bush With War

2007-08-02T19:42:00.000+02:00

August 02, 2007 12:00 PM EST
by Scott Sullivan
Not only is Nazi Iran’s ally Massoud Barzani refusing to speak out against the PKK as the US had hoped, he is now issuing threats against the US. This latest Barzani threat to President Bush comes as the Baghdad government appears near to collapse. A collapse of central authority in Baghdad would dramatically escalate Iraq’s civil war, which in turn would tempt Iraq’s neighbors, beginning with Turkey, to intervene.
Barzani is quoted in today’s Washington Times that if Baghdad fails to implement the promised referendum on Kirkuk, a referendum which would provide a quasi-legal basis for Barzani to annex Kirkuk and its vast oil wealth, Baghdad would precipitate a “real civil war” in Iraq.
Let’s take a moment to analyze Barzani’s words. What Barzani is really saying is that he can make things far worse for the US in Iraq. Barzani controls a combined force of 80,000 troops including Kurdish peshmerga militia and 5,000 PKK terrorists already in Iraq. This Iraqi Kurdish force, most likely reinforced with thousands of PKK “volunteers” from Turkey, will wage war at Barzani’s command on Iraqi Kurdistan’s ethnic and religious minorities. Barzani, in other words, will attack the tens of thousands of innocent and unprotected Arabs, Turkmen, and Christians who reside in Kurdistan.
Barzani’s pogrom (for there is no other word) will begin with the peshmerga/PKK ethnic cleansing of Kirkuk, after which Barzani will simply annex Kirkuk, referendum or no referendum. Barzani no doubt will next move on Mosul, Iraq’s third largest city, and, like Kirkuk, the locale for substantial Iraqi oil reserves.
In addition to his pogrom, Barzani is also saying that he will withdraw all Kurdish peshmerga units who are serving with the Iraqi army in Baghdad, which would disrupt operations by Coalition forces and create new political and military turbulence as these Kurdish forces are pulled back.
To say Barzani’s threat comes at a bad time for the Baghdad government is an understatement. Iraq’s parliament has gone in recess the entire month of August without acting on major legislation, in defiance of Congress and President Bush, while the Sunnis appear willing to withdraw from the national government altogether.
In fact, Barzani’s immediate goal, backed by Nazi Iran, could be to collapse what little is left of Iraq’s central government. Barzani could calculate that if Washington and Baghdad are having second thoughts about the Kirkuk referendum, he will test Bush’s resolve and deprive him of the last possible fig leaf for the US presence in Iraq. If so, Barzani has suddenly emerged to become a mortal danger for Bush and the entire US deployment in Iraq.
This scenario of Barzani aligning with Iran and the PKK against Bush would explain the Robert Novak op-ed last week describing a purported US plan of covert assassination against the PKK leadership in northern Iraq, described by Under Secretary of Defense Eric Edelman in closed testimony before Congress. A first question to ask is if Edelman is sending a warning shot in Barzani’s direction? Is Edelman -- former ambassador Turkey but no friend of Turkey -- now demanding that Barzani cooperate with Ankara against the PKK?
Even more important, does Barzani suspect that Edelman is bluffing about US interest in restraining the Kurds? This is most plausible, given Edelman’s own past contempt for Ankara, in which case Barzani is right that in saying that Iraq’s real civil war is about to begin. Barzani himself will light the fuse. Is Edelman now prepared to defend Kirkuk and Mosul? Would Edelman ask Turkish peacekeepers to assist in the defense of Kirkuk and Mosul?
Finally, how can the Bush administration with a straight face ask the Arab states to cooperate in containing Iran when the US is backpedaling before a Kurdish-PKK-Iranian coalition in Iraq, where the US has 140,000 troops?

Attack on the house of a Turkmen leader in Iraq's Salah el-Din province

2007-07-30T12:10:00.000+02:00

Gunmen kill 7 people in Iraq

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 17:16:40 Source: DPA

Unidentified gunmen have killed 7 people and injured 5 others in a predominantly Turkmen area in Iraq.

Seven people have been killed and 5 others wounded in an attack on the house of a Turkmen leader in Iraq's Salah el-Din province, police say. "Unidentified gunmen attacked early Sunday a predominantly Turkmen area, 85 kilometers south-west of Kirkuk, killing six and wounding six others," the city's police chief Abbas Mahmoud Amin said. "One of the six wounded died shortly after the attack, raising death toll to seven. The (five) other wounded are being treated in Kirkuk and Touz hospitals, but they are in a very critical condition," Amin added. A source who spoke on condition of anonymity told the independent Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency that the gunmen stormed into the house of the Turkman leader, shooting those present and killing six people, including two sons of the leader and four of his bodyguards. The source did not reveal the name of the Turkman leader. "Eight gunmen were able to infiltrate security barricades manned by Kurdish Peshmerga, and fled the scene unharmed," he said. The attack happened close to Amirli, site of a truck bombing earlier this month, which left dozens of Turkman residents of the area killed and wounded. DT/RE

Iraq: Kurdistan Security Forces Torture Detainees

2007-07-03T18:00:00.000+02:00

Regional Government Must End Detainee Abuse and Violations of Due Process
(New York, July 3, 2007) –
Kurdistan security forces in northern Iraq routinely torture and deny basic due-process rights to detainees, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

Human Rights Watch urges the Kurdistan Regional Government to end torture and ill-treatment of detainees in the custody of the security services. The Kurdish authorities should treat all detainees according to international standards and ensure their right to due process and fair trials. The 58-page report, “Caught in the Whirlwind: Torture and Denial of Due Process by the Kurdistan Security Forces,” documents widespread and systematic mistreatment and violations of due process rights of detainees at detention facilities by Kurdistan security forces. The report is based on research conducted in Iraq’s Kurdistan region from April to October 2006, including interviews with more than 150 detainees. Human Rights Watch raised its concerns with leaders of the Kurdistan government, including President Mas`ud Barzani of the Kurdistan Regional Government, who created a government committee to carry out inspection visits to several detention facilities in early October 2006. “Kurdistan security forces routinely subject detainees to torture and other mistreatment,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director for Human Rights Watch. “Although Kurdish authorities have taken serious steps to improve conditions at detention facilities, they must do more to end the practice of torture. The government must punish prison officials and interrogators found responsible for abuse.” The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) are the two principal parties in the Kurdistan region, and each maintains its own security forces, known as Asayish. Both the KDP Asayish and the PUK Asayish operate outside the control of the regional government’s Ministry of Interior, maintain their own detention facilities, and have held hundreds of detainees, particularly those arrested on suspicion of terrorism-related offenses. During interviews at Asayish detention facilities, detainees told Human Rights Watch that Asayish agents had beat them with metal rods and other implements, put them in stress positions for prolonged periods, and kept them blindfolded and handcuffed continuously for several days at a time. The vast majority of detainees with whom Human Rights Watch spoke also reported that they were held in solitary confinement for extended periods. With some exceptions, Human Rights Watch found that conditions of detention at Asayish facilities were severely overcrowded and unhygienic. Human Rights Watch also found that the Asayish are holding hundreds of detainees in legal limbo without basic due-process rights, including the right to challenge their detention. In the vast majority of Asayish detainee cases that Human Rights Watch investigated, the Kurdistan authorities have not charged detainees with offenses, allowed them access to their relatives or a lawyer, brought them before an investigative judge, provided a mechanism by which they could appeal their detentions, or brought them to trial within a reasonable time period. Human Rights Watch also investigated several cases in which Kurdish authorities had apparently held hostage relatives of individuals sought for terror-related offenses. In other cases, convicted prisoners had already served their sentences but remained in prison, and detainees who had been tried and acquitted continued to be held. Most had no knowledge of their legal status, how long they would continue to be held, or what was to become of them. “The Kurdistan authorities must charge detainees with criminal offenses or else release them,” said Whitson. “Detainees must be able to challenge the legal basis for their detention and receive a prompt, fair trial on the charges against them.” In July 2006, the Kurdistan National Assembly adopted the Law on the Combat of Terrorism in the Iraq Kurdistan Region (Anti-Terrorism Law), which criminalizes a wide range of offenses deemed to constitute terrorism. This law has not clarified the legal status of those terrorism suspects who were arrested prior to its enactment. This includes several suspects arrested in joint sweeps involving Iraqi and US military forces, and subsequently transferred to the custody of Kurdistan authorities. “The Kurdish authorities must establish clear criteria to assess the legal status of terrorism suspects arrested prior to the Anti-Terrorism Law,” Whitson said. “And they need to appoint an independent judicial committee to conduct a thorough review of all detainee cases.” During the months that Human Rights Watch conducted research for this report, it held regular discussions with the Kurdistan authorities, and acknowledges the cooperation it received from officials of both the KDP and the PUK. The KDP and PUK both gave Human Rights Watch access to all Asayish detention facilities and facilitated interviews with Asayish officials, prison directors, legal advisers and other relevant actors. Human Rights Watch also acknowledges the seriousness with which the Kurdistan authorities responded to the concerns now highlighted in this report. Over the course of the last year, Asayish officials have initiated partial reviews of detainee cases and released several groups of detainees, most of whom they had held without due process. While Human Rights Watch recognizes and welcomes the cooperation of the Kurdistan authorities, this cooperation has yet to translate into any discernible improvement for most detainees in Asayish detention facilities and falls well short of the independent and impartial judicial review of the legal status of detainees that Human Rights Watch has recommended as a matter of urgency.

www.turkmen.dk

special status for Kirkuk

2007-06-30T19:20:00.000+02:00

Turkmen Front delegation in New York, wants special status for Kirkuk

29 June 2007, Friday

Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) Chairman Sadettin Ergec, also a Kirkuk deputy at the Iraqi Parliament, said on Friday that their struggle aimed to save Kirkuk as the capital of Iraqi Turkmens or at least earn it a special status.

Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) Chairman Sadettin Ergec, also a Kirkuk deputy at the Iraqi Parliament, said on Friday that their struggle aimed to save Kirkuk as the capital of Iraqi Turkmens or at least earn it a special status.
Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) Chairman Sadettin Ergec, also a Kirkuk deputy at the Iraqi Parliament, said on Friday that their struggle aimed to save Kirkuk as the capital of Iraqi Turkmens or at least earn it a special status.
Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) Chairman Sadettin Ergec, also a Kirkuk deputy at the Iraqi Parliament, said on Friday that their struggle aimed to save Kirkuk as the capital of Iraqi Turkmens or at least earn it a special status.
Ergec and the accompanying Turkmen delegation travelled to New York on Thursday after concluding talks in Washington D.C and got together with the Turkish-American community in New York at a meeting organised by the Assembly of Turkish-American Association and the New York Turkmen Institute.
Ergec delivered a speech at the meeting and briefed the audience about the situation of Turkmens in Kirkuk and the problems they faced, prior to the referendum scheduled to be held towards the end of the year.
Ergec underlined that the adoption of the Iraqi constitution was a mistake and said Iraqi Turkmens were not granted the rights they deserved. Ergec said the reason why they attached so much importance to the Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution was because it posed significant threats to Iraqi Turkmens.
"Kirkuk, a Turkmen city by all means, is under intense pressure and the efforts exerted to alter the demographic structure of the city aiming to effect the outcome of the referendum in favour of the Iraqi Kurds were successful", Ergec said.
Ergec said they would reject a census or a referendum to be held should the normalisation process be mishandled bearing injustice for Turkmens.
"We will use all the rights at our disposition and continue our struggle. Our primary goal is to save our capital Kirkuk. An unwanted outcome in Kirkuk will cause the Turkmen land to be divided and Turkmen community to collapse. Therefore our aim is to at least earn Kirkuk a special status," said Ergec.
Ergec said their talks with the U.S and UN officials in Washington D.C and New York took place in a positive atmosphere. Ergec indicated that they reiterated during talks that Kirkuk was a Turkmen city and received positive responses for the most part. The New Anatolian

Assembly of Turkish American Associations Honorable Dr. Sadettin Ergeç

2007-06-25T21:33:00.000+02:00

ANNOUNCEMENT

Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA)

Public Outreach Committee
The ATAA Capitol Forum and National Speakers Circuit
Proudly Presents
Honorable Dr. Sadettin Ergeç,

Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Iraq,

Chairman of the Iraqi Turkmen Front
To Discuss
Iraqi Unity and Solidarity Based on Human Rights, Equitable Sharing of Resources, and Iraqi Territorial Integrity
As of this announcement, in Iraq U.S. casualties were 3526 and the numbers of U.S. wounded were 114,000; reported Iraqi civilian deaths were 68,000; and, Turkish civilian casualties were 170, twenty more than the British military in Iraq. In addition, deep in Iraq, Turkmens, Chaldean Christians, and other defenseless indigenous groups have been subject to massacres and forced from their homes in important cities such as Kirkuk, where Kurdish leaders have been Kurdifying towns and cities with Kurds from other regions of Iraq. Honorable Dr. Sadettin Ergeç, who recently survived a terrorist attack, will be with us to discuss the dire situation and provide recommendations. He will be joined by Dr. Hegran Ahmad, ITF External Relations Director; Ahmet Muratli, ITF Ankara Representative; Asif Ismail, ITF London Representative; Jamal Mehmed Ali Allahwerede, Co-Chairman of the Iraqi Turkmen Front; and, Hisam Mustafa Taha, Member of the Iraqi Turkmen Council.
Tuesday, June 26, 200711:30 am - 1:30 pm

United States Congress

Rayburn Building, Room B340

Capitol Hill, Washington, DC
Lunch Will be Served

Killings in Kirkuk, Fallujah, Amarah, Baghdad

2007-06-05T21:13:00.000+02:00

Reporters Without Borders calls for special unit to protect journalists
BBSNews 2007-06-04 - BAGHDAD, (IRIN) -- Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called for the creation of a special task force to protect journalists as violence claimed the lives of at least five Iraqi journalists last week.

Journalists receive training in Basra.
Image Courtesy: IRIN
For the image shown above in a larger size, please see: Journalists receive training in Basra.More BBSNews images are available in BBSNews Photos.
RSF urged the Iraqi authorities on 31 May to establish a special police unit to investigate the killings of journalists and organise awareness programmes among Iraqi security forces and the public.
"The Iraqi authorities must fulfil their duty to protect journalists," the group said in a statement on its website. "We call for the creation of a special force within the national police to identify the perpetrators and instigators of the killings of journalists."
RSF also recommended that a witness protection programme be set up with the help of Iraq's neighbours to aid investigations.
An official in the Iraqi Cabinet, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to the media, told IRIN that RSF's proposal had been circulating in government corridors but would be hard to implement because of the deteriorated security situation in the country.
"The government is facing big challenges right now and this kind of protection force will undermine our efforts in hunting down terrorists," the official said. "We have postponed this project until we impose our control [over the country] because we can't offer a policeman to each journalist or a patrol for a media company while their [policemen's] presence in other areas is more important."
RSF also voiced shock at the murders of four Iraqi journalists by armed groups since 26 May.
Killings in Kirkuk, Fallujah, Amarah, Baghdad
Citing Iraqi police, the group said the body of Aidan Abdullah al-Jamiji, who was in charge of Kirkuk television's Turkoman language section and was a well-known local musician, was found on 26 May in the boot of his car. The car had been torched and dumped near a cemetery in the northern city of Kirkuk.
Two days later, Mahmoud Hassib al-Kassab, editor of the weekly al-Hawadith newspaper and a member of a local Turkoman group, was shot dead outside his home in the northern part of Kirkuk.
Abdul-Rahman al-Issawi, a 34-year-old journalism professor at Baghdad University and a contributor to several newspapers, was killed on 29 May along with seven family members when gunmen stormed into his home, west of Fallujah, and opened fire.
Nizar al-Radhi, 38, an employee of the independent news agency Voices of Iraq and correspondent since last year for Radio Free Iraq, was shot dead while several of his colleagues were wounded in a drive-by shooting on 30 May as they were leaving a news conference outside the city hall of Amarah, southeast of Baghdad.
In addition, Saif M. Fakhry, a 26-year-old Associated Press cameraman, was shot dead on 31 May as he was walking to a mosque during clashes in the Sunni neighbourhood of Amiriyah in Baghdad. His death was not included in the Reporters without Borders statement.
Excluding Fakhry's death, RSF said 181 journalists and media assistants have been killed since the US-led invasion in March 2003.

Tension rises over Kirkuk

2007-06-05T21:02:00.000+02:00

Tension rises over Kirkuk

By Kareem Zair

Azzaman, June 4, 2007

Rival minorities are at loggerheads over the fate of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

As Kurdish leaders vow to include Kirkuk within their semi-independent enclave, other minorities in the city say they will oppose the move with all available means.

President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq say they would not accept any constitutional amendment to a paragraph calling for a referendum in the city.

The paragraph, known as article 140, is among the most contentious in the constitution which Iraqi Sunnis would like to see substantially revised to preserve the country’s national unity.

The Kurds want the referendum to take place at the end of the year as stipulated by the constitution because they believe they now have numerical superiority in the city.

Other ethnic minorities accuse the Kurds of attempts to change the city’s demographic structure in the years since the downfall of former leader Saddam Hussein.

“We are determined to apply article 140 of the Iraqi constitution regarding the normalization of conditions in Kirkuk,” said Talabani.

But Iraqi Turkmen and Arabs who live in the city and its suburbs are openly resisting Kurdish attempts to annex Kirkuk.

They say if the government went ahead and let the Kurds to have the city, the move would eventually backfire, fuelling further the current ethnic and sectarian strife.

Arab and Turkmen leaders have asked the government to turn Kirkuk into a special region with an administration in which the three major minorities – Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen – will have equal share.

They also want article 140 revised as part of the amendments demanded by the Iraqi parliament and mainly Sunni opposition leaders.

For the time being they would like at least the implementation of the article postponed for at least five years.

But Barzani in a joint press conference with Talabani said, “We shall not accept any postponement of that paragraph.”

Iraqi Turkmen Journalist Killed In Kirkuk

2007-05-30T17:19:00.000+02:00

Gunmen Shoot Ethnic Turkoman Newspaper Editor-in-Chief Outside his Home
05/29/2007 07:02 AM ET
By Issam Tareq Kirkuk, May 29, (VOI) – Unidentified gunmen killed the editor-in-chief of a weekly newspaper published in Kirkuk in front of his house in the predominantly-Turkoman neighborhood of al-Musalla, northern Kirkuk, a police source said."Mahmoud Hassib al-Qassab, the editor of al-Hawadeth weekly, was an ethnic Turkoman and the fourth journalist to be killed in Kirkuk this month," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).Qassab was also the leader of the Movement to Rescue Turkomans. Al-Hawadeth was the first newspaper published in Kirkuk in 1962. It stopped for a while but Qassab had it re-issued after 2003.The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said at least 104 journalists have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, making Iraq the deadliest conflict for the press. About four in five journalist deaths there have been Iraqis.

the status of Kirkuk

2007-04-23T20:05:00.000+02:00

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Council Conclusions on IRAQ

2795th GENERAL AFFAIRS Council meeting

Luxembourg, 23 April 2007

The Council adopted the following conclusions:

"1. The Council reaffirms its support to a secure, stable, democratic, prosperous, and unified Iraq and reiterates its commitment to the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Iraq. It reiterates its support for the democratically elected Government of Iraq and for its efforts to restore public order, promote national reconciliation and rule of law, further economic reconstruction and engage Iraq's neighbouring states and the International Community.

2. The Council condemns in the strongest terms all forms of violence against the Iraqi population, including acts of terrorism, politically motivated or sectarian attacks, and forced displacement. It expresses its deep concern about the humanitarian and human rights situation in parts of Iraq, in particular the situation of internally displaced persons and of Iraqi refugees abroad and urges the government of Iraq to meet its responsibilities towards them. It notes the continued efforts of the multinational force to participate in humanitarian and reconstruction assistance in accordance with the mandate renewed by UNSCR 1723.

3. The Council encourages the Government of Iraq to intensify its efforts towards national reconciliation. It hopes that substantial progress will be made on the review of debaathification and on the disbandment of militias, as well as against terrorism, and that appropriate measures will be taken to promote full inclusiveness. It urges all political and social groups in Iraq to pursue their demands through peaceful means and within Iraq's democratic institutions. The Council believes that fundamental decisions such as on the constitutional review, the federalism law and the status of Kirkuk, must be taken in a spirit of sincere dialogue and consensus-building if they are to serve as the basis for a peaceful and prosperous future for Iraq.

4. The Council welcomes the initiative to convene a conference of Iraq's neighbouring states with international participation in Sharm El Sheikh on 4 May, 2007. The international community, and in particular the States in the region, have a responsibility to support and promote the difficult process of national reconciliation and stabilization in Iraq, and to prevent outside interference that could undermine this process. The Council expresses its hope that the planned conference give rise to a long-term process of regional confidence building through dialogue and co-operation. The EU stands ready to actively contribute to this endeavour.

5. The Council reiterates its support for the International Compact with Iraq (ICI) and warmly welcomes the launching of the Compact at a ministerial conference in Sharm El Sheikh on 3 May, 2007. It appreciates the ambitious benchmarks set by the Government of Iraq for its economic, political, security and social reform strategies and encourages Iraq to pursue these targets with all determination. Progress towards those targets will help to further enhance the EU's engagement with Iraq. The Council reaffirms its strong support for a central role of the UN in Iraq, especially in the political, human rights and humanitarian sectors, and in facilitating international support to Iraq.

6. The Council warmly welcomes the opening of negotiations for a Trade and Cooperation Agreement with Iraq and hopes for a timely continuation of these negotiations.

7. The EU will continue to work with the Government of Iraq to better align its assistance with the priorities laid down in the ICI. The Council welcomes the decisions by the Donor Committee of the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) at its meeting in Istanbul on 21 March, 2007 to assign the co-chairmanship to Iraq and Italy so as to better reflect Iraqi ownership and enhance donor visibility and to review IRFFI's terms of reference in order to align them with Iraqi priorities. This review should enable IRFFI to act as an important channel for international financial support for Iraq within the framework of the ICI.

Denmark is talking about the Turkmen

2007-03-24T08:38:00.000+01:00

The U.S.A., Iraqi government and Kurdish politicians were protested in Denmark. A protest march was organized in Copenhagen with the participation of various Turkmen associations from different European countries. Turkmen participating from Germany, Hamburg, and Sweden’s Malmö and Orhus were among the many countries from whence Turkmen decorated the streets of Copenhagen with their sky blue and red flags, making the persecution of Turkmen in the area by Kurds and Kirkuk the conservation topic for the whole of Denmark. Iraq anti war protestors supported the Turkmen march which was broadcasted live on Denmark’s television channels. The widely discussed protest march was also carried to the headlines of Denmark’s daily papers. Politiken.dk newspaper featured the 1000 strong Turkmen protestors and the persecution of Turkmen in Kirkuk and its environs by the Kurds. During the rally the complaints of the Turkmen and what they requested from the world’s public were voiced. The Danish protestors were sincerely interested in the Turkmen. The press release of Turkmen Political Committee was released during the Turkmen march which was attended by Sweden’s Malmo Turkmen House President Mr. Ahmet Rauf and executive board members, Hamburg Turkmen Association president mr. Fevzi Kerküklü and Board Members Cuma Hurşit, Seyit Salih, Hasan Sarıkahya, Denmark’s Orhus Turkmen Cultural Association President Mr. Murat Salih, his deputy Yıldırım Merttürkmen and other board members, Turkmen Political Committee member Mr. Mahmut Rauf and Copenhagen Iraq Turkmen Culture Association founding president Mr. Halit Tofik, Iraq caliye Turkmen member İkbal Hanım in addition to Turkmen women and nationalist Turkmen individuals. After the meeting and a meal eaten together, the Turkmen left savoring a feeling of unity and with the sense of accomplishment In addition to Danish organizations, the Copenhagen Ülkü Ocakları association supported the Turkmen’s march with over a 1000 (thousand) people to simultaneously protest the Iraqi war.

Savaş Nurettin

Special Translation : Kerkuk.NET

New rape allegation jolts Iraq

2007-02-28T08:54:00.000+01:00

The claim of the second woman, a Sunni member of Iraq's Turkmen minority, doesn't fit neatly into such a suspicion. Tall Afar, 50 miles from Mosul, is a town populated mostly by ethnic Turkmen, both Shiites and Sunnis.

District Commissioner Najim Abdullah Jabouri recounted the woman's story in a telephone interview with The Times.

The woman, a mother of two in her late 30s, alleges that on Feb. 8, at least eight men, mostly Iraqi soldiers, entered her home. They locked her two teenage daughters in another room, Jabouri said, and repeatedly raped her while one of them videotaped the attack. Later, the troops turned their attention to the daughters, Jabouri said. But one of the soldiers pulled out a gun and threatened to open fire if the other men touched the girls, Jabouri said.

When the soldiers left, the woman took her daughters through the streets of her neighborhood telling people to beware of the soldiers, Jabouri said. Local Sunni tribal leaders complained to police, who launched an investigation and detained eight men, said Sheik Mohammed Khalaf Hanash, leader of the Sunni Council of Tall Afar.

The alleged victim, accompanied by more than a dozen Sunni tribal leaders, went to a police station and identified the assailants, pointing out the man who protected her daughters, Hanash said. "The case has now been turned over to the courthouse," he said.

The woman has been named by Iraqi television. She had stayed out of public view until Sabreen's case made headlines.The rape claims have heightened sectarian tensions and deepened Sunnis' mistrust of the Shiite-dominated security forces. But Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, advised people to not allow the allegations to tarnish all Iraqi soldiers and police officers."Because there's two or three that are alleged to have done something wrong should not be taken and made as an allegation against the entire force," Caldwell said Wednesday. "There are brave Iraqi soldiers out there each day, both Iraqi army soldiers and Iraqi police soldiers, who are doing their mission." Human rights activists and judges said members of Hussein's security forces systematically raped female prisoners. In the Kurdish town of Sulaymaniya, rebels who stormed a security office in 1991 found videotapes of Hussein's intelligence and security officials raping women in a basement dungeon. Kurdish and Shiite female prisoners during the Hussein regime have testified in recent human rights cases against the former Iraqi president and his deputies. Their faces hidden and voices digitally altered, they have told of being raped in prison. Rapes continue, said Nomani, the human rights activist."Many women have been subject to kidnap and rape," she said. "And they don't have the courage to speak about it."She cited the case of a 16-year-old girl and her younger sister, kidnapped while walking to school in Baghdad last year. The girl managed to escape her captors, who had repeatedly raped her, but her sister has not been found. Her shamed family had to sell its house, and the girl has developed serious mental problems. "She's so depressed that she's sick," Nomani said.
daragahi@latimes.comTimes staff writer Daragahi reported from Baghdad and special correspondent Al-Zarary from Mosul.

Iraq's Turkmen leader says Iraq still under U.S. occupation

2007-02-24T17:37:00.000+01:00

A leading Turkmen official in Iraq's Erbil province Tuesday said that Iraq remains under U.S. occupation and the Americans have the final say in all security matters, Turkey's daily New Anatolian reported.
Citing the recent U.S. arrest of Iranian officials in the heart of Erbil, Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) Erbil Provincial Chairman Nezhet Abdulgani was quoted as saying that "This proves we are still under American occupation. The decisions taken by local officials in a country under occupation are null and void."
He warned that the situation in Iraq is getting worse and the country is being divided along sectarian lines as political groups failed to reach a common understanding.
"Each state minister is linked to a sectarian group and serves their interests and thus there's no harmony," said Abdulgani.
He accused the Iraqi administration of neglecting Turkmen ethnic, saying that "we see that the administration doesn't accept us as a counterpart."
With some Turkmen population living in the autonomous Kurdish region, the Turkmen people are part of the Kurdistan Regional Parliament.
However, the ITC has been rejecting to take part in the regional parliament.
"We see today that the Turkmen deputies who entered the Kurdish regional assembly haven't achieved much," Abdulgani said.
Source: Xinhua

A gift for power

2007-02-09T19:13:00.000+01:00

Iraq's Kurdish president is impossible to pin down. He's friends with the Americans - but also with Iran. He calls himself a Maoist - yet enjoys immense wealth. Who is Jalal Talabani? Jon Lee Anderson meets him in Baghdad.
On November 5, the day Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death, Jalal Talabani, the longtime Kurdish guerrilla leader, who is currently Iraq's president, was in Paris, on a state visit. He was installed in the sumptuous presidential suite at Le Meurice, a gold-and-marble Louis XVI hotel on the Rue de Rivoli, overlooking the Jardin des Tuileries. I watched the verdict with Talabani in his suite, on a large plasma-screen television tuned to the satellite channel Al Arabiya. He sat in a gilded chair, and his expression betrayed nothing. Soon, after a few curt words, Talabani got up and wandered off to his bedroom. One of his aides tiptoed behind him. The aide reappeared a moment later to say that Talabani was sitting in an armchair, deep in thought.

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Saddam's death sentence put Talabani in an awkward position. Saddam had been convicted for the mass killing of 146 people in the Shia village of Dujail in 1982. If he was executed, he would not face a second trial, for the 1988 Anfal campaign, in which as many as 186,000 Kurds were killed. Talabani was on the record as being opposed to capital punishment, but, according to the Iraqi constitution, one of his duties was to approve death warrants. In public statements, he had finessed this problem by saying that he would respect any decisions made by Iraq's judiciary. Still, he was in a predicament.
After a while, Talabani returned, in a better mood. He sat down next to me, but we were interrupted by the arrival of two superbly dressed Frenchmen carrying large shopping bags from Façonnable and Ermenegildo Zegna. They approached Talabani, bowed deferentially, and took a pair of dark suits from the bags. One man brandished a measuring tape, and explained that they needed His Excellency to remove some of his clothes for a fitting. Talabani stood up and began struggling to take off his jacket. A valet rushed over to help.
Talabani, who is 73 and has the fat cheeks, brush moustache and large belly of a storybook pastry chef, is renowned for his political cunning, his prodigious love of food and cigars, his sense of humour, his unflagging optimism, and his inability to keep a secret. He is known as Mam Jalal, which means Uncle Jalal in Kurdish. It is a term of both endearment and cautious deference; Talabani has a mercurial personality, with extreme mood swings. He has survived in Iraqi politics largely owing to an ability to outfox his opponents and, sometimes, his allies. Over the years, he has made deals with everyone from Saddam Hussein to Ayatollah Khomeini and both Bush presidents. He is probably one of the very few people in the world who can claim, truthfully and unapologetically, to have kissed the cheeks of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. Talabani refers to George W Bush as his "good friend" but regards Mao Zedong as his political role model.
Mowaffak al-Rubaie, a Shia politician who is Iraq's national security adviser, told me, "He's very difficult to define. If you are an Islamist, he brings you Koranic verses; if you're a Marxist, he'll talk to you about Marxist-Leninist theory, dialectics and Descartes. He has a very interesting ability to speak several languages, sometimes" - he laughed - "with a very limited vocabulary. He has a lot of anecdotes and knows a lot of jokes. He is an extraordinarily generous person, and he spends like there is no tomorrow."
Rubaie mentioned a period in the 60s when Talabani was allied with Saddam. "One day he was a good friend of Saddam, and then he became a staunch enemy," he said. (In fact, Talabani flirted with Saddam twice more.) Rubaie saw nothing contradictory in this; Talabani, he said, was the ultimate pragmatist.
No other Iraqi politician has Talabani's experience, contacts, and savvy. As a result, he has made the presidency, which was meant to be more ceremonial than the prime minister's job, a powerful post. Yet this role, too, carries contradictions. After spending decades fighting for "self-determination" for Iraq's Kurds, Talabani finds himself defending Iraq's unity. He now has a choice to make: either he can be a founding father of the "new Iraq" - the elder statesman who will help rescue it from civil war - or, if Iraq falls apart, he can be a founding father of an independent Kurdish state. As always, Talabani has hedged his bets. "I am a Kurd from Iraqi Kurdistan, but now I am responsible for Iraq," he told me. "And I feel my responsibility." In another conversation, he said, "It's true that I am an Iraqi, but in the final analysis I am a Kurd."
Under Saddam, the Kurds "were facing a dictatorship in Baghdad that was launching a war of annihilation against the Kurdish people," he said. "We were in need of all kinds of support from anybody in the world. When war starts, and you participate in it, you will need support from anyone. There is no supermarket where you can go and choose your friends in a war."
In the current war, some of his unreconciled friendships have been troublesome. Iran was once one of the Kurds' greatest allies, and Talabani had planned to fly from Paris to Tehran. But he abruptly postponed the trip at the request of the Bush administration: he would have arrived in Tehran on November 6, and the prospect of pictures of America's Iraqi ally visiting Iran the day before the midterm elections made the White House uncomfortable.
In Baghdad, Talabani lives in a yellow- brick mansion on the eastern shore of the Tigris river, outside the Green Zone. Until April 2003, when Talabani seized it, the mansion belonged to Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam Hussein's half brother and the former chief of the secret police, who, like Saddam, was sentenced to die for his role in the Dujail massacre. (Barzan was executed on January 15, but his hanging was bungled when the rope ripped off his head.) The presidential offices are next door, in a palace that once belonged to Saddam's wife, Sajida.
Talabani's complex sits on the north side of the ramparts of the Jadiriya Bridge; on the south side is the home of his political ally Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the Shia leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Hakim's house is where Tariq Aziz, Saddam's deputy prime minister, once lived. The approaches on Talabani's side are heavily guarded by Kurdish peshmerga ("those who face death") fighters - Talabani commands some 50,000 peshmerga in the militia of his party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK - and on Hakim's by militiamen of the Badr Organization, his party's armed wing.
The two leaders and their militias work closely on political and security matters, though in other ways the Kurds, who are largely secular, and the Shias, who are very devout, present a sharp contrast in styles. During weeks spent in Talabani's company, I never saw him or any of his aides pray. Talabani is not averse to alcohol, either, and he enjoys playing cards with a small group of his cronies.
Talabani's wife, Hero, does not live in Baghdad with her husband. She stays in their home city of Sulaimaniya, where she runs a foundation and a television station, and publishes a newspaper. She and Talabani have two sons: one, Bafel, runs the counterinsurgency wing of his father's party; the other, Qubad, represents the autonomous Kurdish government in the US.
At home in Baghdad one morning, Talabani invited me up to his private quarters. It was early, and he was still dressed in loose-fitting pyjama bottoms and an immense yellow-and-blue striped rugby shirt. A valet brought us Nescafé stirred with sugar into a creamy mixture. (I later learned that this was "Mam Jalal style".) Talabani lit a cigar. (He favours the long ones known as Churchills.) The day before, two suicide bombers had blown themselves up at a police recruitment centre just outside the Green Zone, killing 38 potential recruits. It was the latest incident in what almost everyone but Talabani acknowledged was an accelerating sectarian war. "I don't think Iraq is on the eve of a civil war," he said stubbornly. "Day by day - and this is not an exaggeration - Sunni and Shia leaders are coming close to each other."
Iraq's main problem was not sectarianism, he said, but a terrorist war waged by Ba'athists and foreign forces such as al-Qaida. Without losing his habitual equanimity, he added that the situation had been made worse by American ineptitude, arrogance and naivety, saying: "I think the main one responsible for this was Rumsfeld" - Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who had resigned days earlier. (Talabani has since welcomed President Bush's plan to send an additional 21,500 American soldiers to Baghdad in a so-called "surge". He said in a statement that it showed "a new effort to improve security in Iraq" and that it "concurs and corresponds with Iraq's plans and ideas" - although some members of the government had been openly sceptical.)
After breakfast, Talabani went downstairs to deal with the affairs of the day. Half a dozen senior personnel were waiting, as they do each morning. When Talabani has an appointment elsewhere, he is driven in a BMW 7 Series armoured black saloon, preceded and followed by a sizable fleet of white Nissan Patrols carrying peshmerga guards. But, more often than not, people come to Talabani. It is a measure of his ascendancy that Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister, usually comes to Talabani, rather than vice versa. Maliki is the third prime minister since 2004, while Talabani has been a constant fixture. Maliki does not have Talabani's access to American and other foreign leaders, and must often work through him. In public, Talabani tries to defer to Maliki, and he appears to wish him to succeed.
One source of Talabani's power is his wealth. Together with his old rival Massoud Barzani, who is the president of the autonomous Kurdish region, Talabani is believed to have amassed many millions of dollars in "taxes" on oil smuggled out of Iraq through Kurdistan between 1991 and 2003, when the country was under UN sanctions. And Talabani obsessively dispenses gifts, trades favours, and buys allegiances, on the assumption that, in Iraq, the richest suitor has the best chance of winning the bride.
In many ways, Talabani's behaviour and his lifestyle are those of a clandestine party boss. His private quarters are cramped, poorly lit, and undecorated, with counters cluttered with satellite phones. His indulgences are food and a large personal staff. He and the US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad have regular meetings over kallapacha, an Iraqi dish consisting of the head and stuffed intestines of a sheep. Twice a month, Talabani sends consignments of Kurdish yogurt, cheeses, honey and handmade sweets to foreign ambassadors and leading politicians.
Several of Talabani's aides told me privately about men in his entourage who, they suspected, profited from government contracts that they steered toward their friends. In this, Talabani's circle is not unusual. Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish MP, is close to Talabani but is scathing about the entire government's profligacy, corruption and moral cowardice. "How does the government expect to have respect when it is closed off?" he said. "The leaders live in Saddam's palaces, and in the Green Zone, and they never go out. The prime minister and the president have discretionary funds to spend as they like of a million or more dollars a month. I think the corruption is widespread and systemic and comes from the very top . . . All of this is against a reality in which the families of killed soldiers or police are given pensions of only $100 a month."
In Maliki's government, cobbled together after four months of tortuous negotiations following the December 2005 parliamentary elections, Talabani helped make sure that many of the high-level jobs that didn't go to Shias went to Kurds. (A number of them are Talabani's friends and relatives.) One of the two deputy prime ministers is a Kurd, and Kurds head several ministries, including the foreign ministry; the minister of water resources is Talabani's brother-in-law. From the American perspective, there is simply an abundance of qualified Kurds - or, at least, many with whom the US feels comfortable.
Talabani, like many senior Iraqi politicians, views Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shia militia leader whose militia is known as the Mahdi army, with a mixture of condescension and contempt. The key to weakening Sadr, Talabani said, was Iran. "If the Iranians will calm down the Mahdi army, if there will be no assassination, if these - what do you call them? - 'death squads' will be no more, then only the terrorists will remain. And if Syria will be silent, only al-Qaida will remain, and we can defeat al-Qaida very easily."
Talabani went on, "One of the main mistakes the Americans have made in fighting terrorism is tying our hands and the hands of the Shias, while at the same time the terrorists are free to do what they want. If they let us, within one week we will clean all Kirkuk and adjacent areas." (Talabani's implication was clear: "to clean" is a euphemism for wiping out your opposition, for killing or capturing your enemies.) Talabani then adopted a high-pitched, whining voice, to mimic the Americans: "'No-o, Kurds must not move to the Arab areas, this is sensitive.' If they let the Shias clean the road from Najaf to Baghdad, they can do it within days. If they permit the people of Anbar to liberate their area, they will do it, but they say, 'Ah, no, this is another kind of militia.' They don't understand the realities of Iraq. From the beginning, we have had this problem with them." He added, "Wrong plan, wrong tactic, and wrong policy."
Talabani has been involved in politics since 1946, when, at the age of 13, with Iraq still ruled by the British-installed Hashemite monarchy, he joined an underground Kurdish student organisation. It was part of a Kurdish independence movement that had taken shape during the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, after the first world war, when the victorious European powers failed to give the Kurds their own state. The division of the empire left the Kurds spread among Iraq (with an estimated four million Kurds today, or between 15% and 20% of Iraq's population), Turkey, Syria, and Iran; the greater Kurdistan envisaged by some separatists would encompass parts of each of those countries.
Talabani was born in the village of Kelkan, in south-eastern Iraqi Kurdistan; his father was a local sheikh. By 18, Talabani was the youngest member of the central committee of the Soviet-backed Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Mullah Mustafa Barzani. He studied law in Baghdad (interrupted by a period spent in hiding) and completed his obligatory service in the Iraqi army. Then, in 1961, Talabani joined an armed uprising launched by Barzani.
Three years later, Talabani split with Barzani to join a splinter group founded by Ibrahim Ahmed, the father of his future wife, Hero. Ahmed did not like the terms of Barzani's negotiations with the central government. This was a period of violent political instability in Iraq, with four presidents in the space of 10 years. After a Ba'athist coup in 1968, Talabani made a deal with Saddam, who was then the deputy president, to obtain more rights for the Kurds and to get his help in fighting Barzani - only to reconcile with Barzani when Saddam switched sides. It was the beginning of a dizzying sequence of schisms within the Kurdish rebellion, for which Talabani bears significant responsibility, and which, for a time, strengthened Saddam.
Talabani was a Marxist, and then a Maoist, attracted by "Mao's idea of popular war, of fighting in the mountains against dictatorship". He was also drawn to the anti-colonial Arab nationalist causes of the day. On trips during the 60s, he made important contacts - with Gamel Abdel Nasser of Egypt, King Hussein of Jordan, Muammar Gadafy, Yasser Arafat, and President Hafez al-Assad of Syria. (In Talabani's office, there is a single photograph on the wall, of him with Assad. "He was very, very kind to me," Talabani said.)
In the mid-70s, Talabani spent time in Beirut, working with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Marxist Palestinian guerrilla organisation. It is a murky period about which Talabani says little, but Kurds close to him suggest that he was then at his most radical, and at one point became involved in a Palestinian plot to hijack an American plane in Europe. He is said to have abandoned the scheme when a contact warned him that Mossad planned to assassinate him.
"We considered the US the enemy of the Iraqi Kurdish people," Talabani told me. Through the 80s, the US, for its part, saw the Kurds primarily as troublemakers and as pawns of Syria and Iran. In Turkey, America's Nato ally, Kurdish separatists had been waging a remorseless guerrilla war, to which the Turkish military responded with a vicious counterinsurgency campaign; thousands of Kurdish civilians were killed.
At the height of the Iran-Iraq War, Talabani once again allied himself with Saddam, then opposed him and helped Iran. Saddam's next move was the genocidal Anfal campaign. Saddam razed thousands of Kurdish villages, primarily in Talabani's territory. In the town of Halabja, between March 16 and March 17 1988, 5,000 Kurdish civilians were killed when planes dropped a lethal chemical cocktail that reportedly included mustard gas and nerve agents such as sarin, tabun and VX. Although these attacks later became part of the current Bush administration's case for overthrowing Saddam, the Reagan administration, which was supporting Saddam in his war with Iran, paid little attention; when the news of Halabja broke, the White House blamed Iran.
After Saddam's defeat in the first Gulf war, in early 1991, Shias in the south and Kurds in the north carried out uprisings. Talabani led his forces into Sulaimaniya and Kirkuk. With the US looking on, Saddam dispatched his army against them. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled, in the midst of a harsh winter, provoking a humanitarian crisis. The US and its allies declared a safe haven in the north; Talabani and Barzani (who had temporarily reconciled) began negotiating terms of settlement with Saddam.
There is an unfortunate photograph from this period that shows Talabani kissing Saddam on the cheek. "But, you know, at that time the Kurdish people were in danger of being annihilated," Talabani told me, by way of explanation. "Fighting is not playing ping-pong," Talabani said. "Fighting is killing each other. When we were fighting Saddam, we killed them, they killed us. It's something ordinary. It's war. And when we stop the war both killers sit down to receive each other. And this happens all over the world. Mao, he sat down with Chiang Kai-shek! Chiang Kai-shek killed his wife. His son! . . . But when the time comes to talk peace, they must sit down with each other. This is the process of life."
As the Kurdish "safe haven" developed into a "no fly zone" policed by US and British warplanes - a de facto Kurdish autonomous zone, beyond the authority of Saddam Hussein - Barzani and Talabani fought for pre-eminence. One dispute was over revenues from oil smuggling.
"Jalal is at his best when he is down, and is prone to making mistakes when he is up," a longtime friend of Talabani's told me. "In 1991, he was emerging as a statesman of the Kurds, internationally renowned. Instead of moving to become the nation builder that he was supposed to be, he moved into battle, playing with fire, undermining all that he built. "
In 1994, a civil war broke between the armies of Talabani and Barzani. In the midst of the fighting, Talabani provided a base for a CIA task force, and for Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi exile leader, who were involved in various failed coup plots. Hundreds of people died in these efforts. Talabani continued fighting Barzani, who at one point, astoundingly, invited Saddam's army into the north.
When President Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act, in 1998, promising American support for Iraqi opposition groups, Talabani and Barzani went to Washington and settled their differences. By then, several thousand Kurds from both sides had been killed.
Talabani called the bipartisan Iraq Study Group's report "unfair" and "unjust"; he compared it to terms imposed on a "colony". But one recommendation that he had no problem with was that President Bush begin direct talks with Syria and Iran. "It is in our interest that relations between the US and Iran about Iraq be at least normal, and if they have other differences let them take them to other parts of the world," he had told me a couple of weeks earlier. He was about to leave for his delayed trip to Iran. He was also keeping the Americans informed. "We never hide our relation with Iran from America."
Tehran was cold and grey on November 27 last year, when Talabani and his entourage arrived. Several ministers and a clutch of Iraqi journalists and photographers were on board. During our descent into Tehran, one of Talabani's junior aides came down the aisles, handing each person a form to sign. It was printed in Arabic, and, assuming it was an official landing document of some sort, I signed it, whereupon he handed me a thick envelope and moved on. Inside were 20 $100 bills. After we landed, I asked the aide why he had given me money, and he said it was "a gift from the president". I thanked him, but said that I could not accept it, and handed the envelope back. He looked very confused. A senior aide translated my explanation about "journalistic ethics", which left the man looking only more mystified. The senior aide then opened his own envelope and, whistling, counted out 50 $100 bills. "I think he's given me the same amount as the ministers," he exclaimed. "He does this from his own pocket, you know." He said that, on each trip, Talabani gives money to all those on board, including the bodyguards, the flight attendants and the pilot. We calculated that during the one-hour flight Talabani had given away about $100,000.
The contrast with Baghdad was striking. There were no armed soldiers or blast walls and security barricades to negotiate. Instead, we drove through street after street of brightly lit stores with neon signs; the sidewalks were full of people. But what most caught the attention of the Iraqis was the large number of women and girls out on the street; the sight of women in public has become a rarity in Baghdad.
The next morning, Talabani awoke early and visited the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini. Then he met Ahmadinejad and the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Sources close to Talabani told me that in their talks he requested a reversal in Iran's policy - specifically, that Iran's leadership "control" Sadr's militia and ally itself instead with his government, and that it persuade its allies, including Syria, Hamas and Hizbullah, to do the same. Talabani then asked that Iran open up communications with the multinational forces in Iraq, and cooperate with the Iraqi and US governments in their security plan for Baghdad. And, perhaps most controversial from the Americans' point of view - assuming that they knew about it - Talabani proposed that Tehran and Baghdad exchange intelligence, and that Iran help train and equip Iraq's security forces.
One of the Iraqis who attended the meeting said that Talabani told Khamenei that Iraq was "at a make-or-break point and needed Iran's help". He went on: "The Supreme Leader said that he understood and would do everything he could. In return, he wanted the Iraqis to take more control over their own security from the Americans."
At a press conference, Ahmadinejad said, "Iraq is like a wounded hero." Talabani, standing next to him, said, smiling, "We can only hope that he recovers." The crowd laughed; it was a classic Mam Jalal moment. Ahmadinejad added, "The best way to support Iraq is to support its democratically elected government." However disingenuous this may have sounded under the circumstances, Talabani's officials took it as a further sign that the Iranians were prepared to help. They told me it was the first time that the Iranians had explicitly endorsed the current Iraqi government.
An Iraqi minister came up to me afterward, looking enthusiastic, and said, "You see? I told you it was more than symbolic!" After a short pause, the official leaned over and whispered excitedly, "These guys even offered us weapons!"
That evening, a senior Iraqi official said that he was worried about the "mixed messages" coming from the US. "I emphasised with the Iranians that they should not just assume that because the Americans were bogged down in Iraq they were incapable of taking action against Iran; I said that they were entirely capable of it."
Saddam's execution, which came at dawn on December 30, was a clumsy and brutish affair. As he stood on a scaffold with the noose around his neck, he was taunted by some of his hooded executioners and by spectators. Talabani was in Sulaimaniya. Hours before the execution, he had found the perfect solution to his dilemma concerning the death warrant. "It couldn't have been any better," Hiwa Osman, his media adviser, explained. "He found that in cases of international war crimes the constitution did not give him the authority to alter the court's ruling. In a way, it was a blessing from the sky, and it solved his ethical dilemma."
As for Talabani's reaction to the execution, Osman said: "Remember what he did in Paris when the death sentence was announced, and he went into his bedroom for an hour or so? This time, it lasted three or four days. No one saw him".
© 2007 Jon Lee Anderson
· Jon Lee Anderson is the author of The Fall of Baghdad, The Lion's Grave: Dispatches from Afghanistan and Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life

Announcement from a Turkmen member in Kerkuk Council

2007-01-28T23:19:00.000+01:00

kerkuk.net 27.01.2007
To all the International human rights organizations and United Nations authoritiesIn the present difficult situation of the Kerkuk city, which hosted different communities for centuries, is severely deteriorating. With the approach of the referendum which determines the fate of the city, a fierce deliberated plan is carried out to force the original inhabitants from Turkmen and Arabs to leave their city. • Bombing of the Turkmen shops, assassinations and kidnappings are acutely increased,• Threatening Turkmen businessmen, staffs (physicians and engineers), Directors in governmental offices and shop owners to pay huge amount of money or they will be killed. This makes a large number of them to run off the city.Worth noting that the militant Kurdish Pashmargas supported by occupation authorities dominate the police, security and military system of Kerkuk regionWe call the international community, regional powers and the United Nations to interfere for the sake of the Kerkuk inhabitants to prevent the expected massive deportation of non Kurdish inhabitants of Kerkuk city.

SADDAM… THE TURKMEN…AND THE UNJUSTICE OF THE WORLD PEACE ENVOY

2007-01-19T11:16:00.000+01:00

By Ziyat Köprülü

In the first days of 2007, the pens that composed articles whether Saddam Hussein’s execution was right or wrong have begun competing with each other in a subjective and rapid race so as to prove the perspective of their respective owners. Some expressed their doubts regarding the fairness of the trial and the eventual verdict, and considered him a “martyr”. Others supported it and stated that he deserved the punishment, reminding the murders he had committed and the inhumane practices he had carried out.

Following these perspectives I eventually read several articles advocating both views respectively. I discussed the issue with several friends and associates who knew Saddam’s murders closely, and non-Iraqis who were not familiar with these practices, as well. I do not have any reproach against people who are not aware of what this tyrant had done to his people and even to his closest circle. However, what upsets me is that a movie clip shorter than three minutes has reached its objective and impressed this miserable people, making them forget 35 years of oppression, tyranny and displacement! Thus, the “plotter” reached its objective and managed to provoke sectarianism among Iraqi people and to ignite the fuse of conflict.

However, an article written by Dr. Sahib Al Hakim, a member of the UN Human Rights Commission, World Peace Envoy and the Rapporteur of the Iraqi Human Rights Association, for whom I harbor deep affection and respect due to his scientific efforts in the field of human rights and the articles he has written, was too much for me. The “subjective article”, titled “From Al Awja to a Pit and the Gallows: Quick Excerpts from the Historical Flow of Certain Murders Committed by Saddam between 1937 and 2006”, he wrote on January 01, 2007 while he was in Mecca (fulfilling his Hajj duty) disappointed me. In this article, Dr. Sahib Al Hakim handled certain practices of Saddam Hussein and his group, and tried to justify the verdict given against him. However, he did not mention the sufferings of the Turkmen people from the hands of this tyrant, other than citing the name of a female martyr. Yet, he is one of the individuals who know the suffering of the Turkmen very well and his archive is highly rich when it comes to such documents. Should not this human rights advocate in Iraq have been much more impartial and reflected the picture of this dark era in the history of Iraq “altogether”, without any discrimination, so as to display the sufferings of all religious and ethnic elements in Iraq from the hands of this tyrant and his practices? I hope this friendly criticism of mine against Dr. Sahib Al Hakim will become a good opportunity for him to search his archives thoroughly and to correct his unintentional mistake. However, just to remind you, I would like to list briefly the practices of Saddam Hussein and his dirty regime against the Turkmen in Iraq so as to make everyone remember them and to make the ones who are going to hear them for the first time (!) to memorize them:

1. Individual and massive detentions, forced migrations, exiles, tortures and the death and imprisonment sentences given by Revolutionary Courts, found out by political and non-governmental Turkmen organizations and UN rapporteurs, and issued in the following reports:

1.1. The UN Human Rights Commission’s reports prepared according to resolutions 74/1994 of 06.03.1991 and 74/1993 of 25.02.1994.

1.2. The reports of The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO).

1.3. The report of the Iraqi National Turkmen Party dated September 1994.

1.4. Statements and reports issued by the Iraqi Turkmen Front at different times.

1.5. The execution documents handed over to the families of the executed individuals.

1.6. The reports of the Iraqi Turkmen Center of Human Rights Studies.

1.7. The reports on violations of human rights drafted by the Turkmeneli Cooperation and Culture Foundation.

1.8. The case file 273 dated 06.02.2005, containing the murders committed by the regime and its collaborators against this peaceful nation and the list of executions containing almost a thousand names, submitted to the related court in Baghdad.

2. The decisions of the Iraqi Revolutionary Council, signed by Saddam Hussein, prepared at different times on the initiatives to change the demographic structure of Turkmen regions and land expropriations there… Let us list some of those decisions issued by the official gazette of Iraq:

2.1. The decision 1391 issued in the official gazette no. 2856 dated 02.11.1981.

2.2. The decision 418 issued in the official gazette no. 2990 dated 23.04.1984.

2.3. The decision 1081 issued in the official gazette no. 3015 dated 15.11.1984.

3. The voice tape of suspect Ali Hassan Al Majid, nicknamed “Chemical Ali”, during a meeting of the high level leaders of the Baath Party’s northern region. This tape openly reveals the hidden grudge that the tyrant and his regime had developed against the Turkmen. They were talking about the execution of more than 100 Turkmen in the village of Bashir. Excerpts from this tape have been published by several newspapers/magazines and broadcasted by certain radio stations.

4. Citizens applying to government institutions were required to present a document stating their nationality and forced to change their nationality from “Turkmen” to “Arab” in census offices.

5. Mass murders committed in Tazakhormatu, Tuzkhurmatu and Altunkupri in March 1991… The regime forced the Turkmen and the Kurds to migrate to northern Iraq collectively at that time. Then, the Republican Guards Units loyal to Saddam started to bombard Kirkuk and its vicinity, supported by tank and artillery units and helicopters. They also attacked the town of Tazakhormatu south of Kirkuk, the Altunkupri district north of Kirkuk and the Tuzkhurmatu District of the Salahaddin Province. Afterwards, they executed several Turkmen by shooting, the elderly, the youngsters, children and all. The graveyards of those martyrs are the most obvious proofs of those murders.

6. Several Turkmen villages have been burned down without any reason and lands belonging to the Turkmen have been expropriated. For example, villages like Bashir, Yayci, Turkalan, Omer Mendan, Topuzova and Bastamli. Moreover, Eski Tisin suburb of Kirkuk was completely burned down in 1987 and the residents were forced to migrate without any compensation.

All those we mentioned constitute only a few examples of the inhumane practices that our people were subjected to during the Saddam regime. As these brief samples can clearly reveal, all those practices against the Turkmen were against international legislations/practices and the articles of the International Declaration of Human Rights! Thus, this tyrant, whose death turned to the detriment of the Iraqi people like his life did in the past, greatly deserved the capital punishment.

The upsetting fact is that the occupiers that supported and exceedingly assisted the cruel regime in Iraq, and rendered it impossible for the Iraqi people to topple this bloody dictator! Besides, the occupiers forced the Iraqi people to support him and to invite him to cut the tentacles of this overwhelming octopus. However, it is more upsetting that this people could only pull down this tyrant’s statue by the support and assistance of American troops!... The Iraqi people should have captured him on their own, tried him and then hanged him… If this had been the case, it would have been great. Meanwhile, The United States of America gave everyone, the leaders of regional countries in particular, a great lesson indeed. “I have nothing to tell you as long as you fulfill my orders, but do not ever stop obeying me. Otherwise, your end will be just like Saddam’s, and the fate of your people will be just like the end of the Iraqi people…!” said the United States.

Well… Against this situation, we can do nothing but take refuge in God’s mercy and beg Him “to render this land safe…”.

UN warns of looming crisis in Kirkuk

2007-01-17T17:15:00.000+01:00

UN warns of looming crisis in Kirkuk

Mark Tran
Tuesday January 16, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

The deteriorating human rights situation in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq could be a prelude to a looming crisis in the Kurdish region, the UN warned today.
In its bi-monthly human rights report on Iraq, the UN voiced concerns at reports of mistreatment of ethnic Turkmen and Arabs by the Kurdish majority.

"They face increasing threats, intimidations and detentions, often in KRG (Kurdish regional government) facilities run by Kurdish intelligence and security forces," the report said. "Such violations may well be the prelude of a looming crisis in Kirkuk in the coming months."

While media attention has focused on Baghdad, which accounts for most of Iraq's bloodletting, Kirkuk could be lurching towards its own mini-crisis.

Kirkuk, an ancient city once part of the Ottoman empire, has a large minority of ethnic Turks as well as Christians, Shias and Sunnis, Armenians and Assyrians. The city lies just south of the autonomous Kurdish region stretching across Iraq's north-east.

Under Iraq's new constitution, a local referendum is to be held this year to determine whether Kirkuk should join the Kurdistan regional confederacy (the united administration of Irbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniya provinces). Because of its oil wealth, the Kurds covet the city and want it to become their regional capital.

It is a prospect that horrifies Turkey, which fears that a strong Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq with Kirkuk's oil wealth would galvanise separatist Kurdish guerrillas in Turkey who have been fighting since 1984 for autonomy.

Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, today warned Iraqi Kurdish groups against trying to seize control of Kirkuk. He said Turkey would not stand by amid growing ethnic tensions, prompting accusations of interference by Iraqi Kurds.

The Kurdish coalition bloc in the Iraqi parliament today read a statement during a session accusing Turkey of interfering in Iraqi affairs. "As we condemn this interference in Iraqi affairs by the Turkish government, we call upon the parliament to issue a statement condemning them as well," the coalition bloc said.

But Mr Erdogan this week reminded the Kurds that Turkey sheltered more than 500,000 Iraqi Kurdish refugees who escaped Iraq's ruthless campaign following a failed Kurdish insurgency in early 1991.

"Turkey did not remain indifferent to the plight of Kurdish peshmergas who were escaping oppression and death," he said. "Today, it will not remain indifferent to the Turkmens, Arabs ... in Kirkuk."

Military intervention by Turkey, a Nato ally of the US in northern Iraq, is unlikely, but Ankara could apply economic pressure as potential oil exports from Kirkuk have to go overland through Turkey.

Today's UN report said Kirkuk is heavily controlled by security forces and Kurdish militias - or peshmergas - who exercise to a large degree effective control of the city. Most senior official positions are occupied by Kurds or their allies from other ethnic groups.

Under Saddam Hussein, Baghdad imposed an "Arabisation" policy on Kirkuk, a massive social engineering project that drove many Kurds from their homes to be replaced by Arabs, mostly Shias from the south. Since the US invasion of 2003, many Kurds have returned and Turkmen and Arabs in the city now complain of reverse "ethnic cleansing".

"Even though violence is not on the same level as in Baghdad," the UN said, "ongoing human rights violations and the surge of violent acts which have significantly increased since 2003 are widely believed to be the doing of perpetrators and instigators from inside and outside Iraq and Kirkuk. Lately and due to the continuing insecurity, ethnic groups have moved closer to their own communities for protection."

With tension rising in Kirkuk, the referendum is shaping up to be a key moment for the Kurdish region. The Iraq Study Group, chaired by former secretary of state James Baker, warned last month in its report of the "great risk" of the referendum sparking further violence in Kirkuk and recommended postponing it for a year.

The Kurds would hardly welcome any such delay and might well annex the city precipitating a crisis with Turkey.

Explosion in Largely Turkmen district of Musala in northern Kirkuk

2006-12-26T14:44:00.000+01:00

A car bomb exploded beside a market and a suicide bomber struck a bus in separate attacks Monday that killed14 civilians and wounded at least 33.Three Iraqi children were killed and eight wounded when they were blasted by a roadside bomb on their way to school in the troubled northern oil hub of Kirkuk on Tuesday, a police officer said. The bomb exploded in the largely Turkmen district of Musala in northern Kirkuk shortly before 10:00 am (0700 GMT), said local official.Two boys and a girl were killed and eight children wounded by shrapnel from the explosion as they were walking to the primary school.

Turkey underscores importance of reaching solution to Kurdish rebels'' issue

2006-12-22T00:40:00.000+01:00

Regarding Kirkuk, Erdogan described the situation in the majority-Turkmen city as a "timed bomb" following the changing of its demographic structure, calling for giving this city an exceptional status while taking into account its historic past. (end) tb. >>>>

Turkmens to Boycott Kirkuk Referendum if Conditions Worsen

2006-12-19T14:54:00.000+01:00

A Turkmen group said they were determined not to participate in a critical referendum in Kirkuk. With tense ethnic divisions and a Kurdish strategic national interest in the city, Kirkuk has the potential to be a major battlefield >>>>

Open Letter To The president of The United States Of America

2006-12-18T15:02:00.000+01:00

Turkmen Komitê

Mr. George W. Bush

The president of The United States Of America

We as Turkmen living outside Iraq would like to express our appreciation regarding the ISG report.We find the ISG report realistic and a new hope for the future of Iraq and the region. Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Kurdish forces in northern Iraq have rallied to reverse what they claim to be an Arabization policy by Saddam Hussein, which purged Kirkuk and other oil-rich areas of Kurds and replaced them with Arab settlers. Thousands of Kurdish settlers from northern Iraq have flooded into Kirkuk and organized by the Kurdish administration, colonizing the city's desert outskirts. We believe the influx is a bid to change the city's ethnic balance ahead of a 2007 census and referendum that aims to decide whether Kirkuk will be annexed to Iraqi Kurdish region. Earlier this year as Turkmen politicians reported manipulations and irregularities conducted during the Iraqi Elections has created a falls administrative and representative composition especially in Kirkuk.We also mean that the Turkmens are not a minority ethnic group as mentioned in the report. n the map of report, The Turkmen people listed under Minority Groups. The word Turkmen means a an racial ethnic folk and not a religious sect as Shi'aa or Sunni or Yazidi. We request recurrence in this matter. We fully agree on the issue of delaying the 2007 referendum issued under recommendation 30 and willing to cooperate on all the issues for the purpose of democratisation of Iraq.

Sincerely,

Savas Nurettin

The Secretary General of Turkmen Komitê
turkmenkomite@gmail.com

Sunnis, Shiites, Turcoman and Kurds have sat together

2006-12-18T13:30:00.000+01:00

Arms remain silent for a football game

No exploding bombs, no drawn guns, no suicide attacks. A football game has done what Iraqi politicians couldn't do for years. Sunnis, Shiites, Turcoman and Kurds have sat together to support their national football team encountering Qatar in the Asian Games.

Qatar's capital city Doha is hosting the 15th Asian Games organization this year. The final game of the organization was between Iraq and the host team Qatar. This 90 minute game has united all enemies of Iraqi origin. Sunnis, Shiites, Turcoman and Kurds have sat together to watch the final game which ended with Qatar National Team's victory. Iraqis have supported their team with cheers and slogans until the 63rd minute when Iraqi goalkeeper conceded a goal. When the game was over, they have united once more, this time to share the disappointment of the defeat.

The killing of five of the family of one of the Turkmen in Tuz Khormatu

2006-12-12T09:43:00.000+01:00

Iraqi national-WNA / Office of Kirkuk / A source in the police of Kirkuk said on Monday, that unidentified gunmen killed five members of a family in a village in the region of Tuz Khormatu in Kirkuk.The source explained that armed men broke into a house in the village (Enkejeh) and started firing, which resulted in the deaths of five people from one family, three women and a three-year-old boy with a man. The source pointed out that the family is "Turkmen Shiites."

Iraqi Turkmens warn Baker-Hamilton commission over Kirkuk

2006-12-05T19:18:00.000+01:00

Tuesday, December 5, 2006
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
Ahead the release of a key report this week by a top-level commission probing U.S. strategic options in Iraq, a senior Iraqi Turkmen leader has warned the commission of certain points in the current constitution of Iraq, particularly regarding the disputed northern Iraqi province of Kirkuk.>>>

Letter to Iraqi Study Group

2006-12-04T16:32:00.000+01:00

kerkuk.net 04.12.2006

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Iraq Study Group

Mr. James BAKER

Mr. Lee HAMILTON

At the beginning of my letter I would like to express myself that the presence of two experts in politics in the Iraq study group is a great chance and a fortune in establishing peace in the world. I also strongly believe that the prepared report would truly contribute to restoring stability and bringing peace to the Middle East, and particularly to Iraq.

Truly, believing that you will consider all different concerns and views as you declared had encouraged me to forward this letter to your attention. However, the world awaits the result of your working group that will be presented on the 6th of December 2006.

As a leader of the Turkmen population in Iraq, I believe that this report will contain many virtual and cordial measures that will bring peace and stability to Iraq. Therefore I feel myself that it is my duty to contribute to your work.

As a matter of fact and after the passage of a certain time it is been indicated that the Turkmen were the only Iraqi segment who defended the land integrity and called for the unity of all Iraqi components under the superior of Iraqi identity. The Turkmen also claimed that the national resources should belong to all Iraqis.

The most important point in this dilemma is to ensure Iraq's stability and security. Many groups that have received the U.S. Administration support are trying irresponsibly to obtain boundless gains in Iraq. The unjust constitution, leading to dividing Iraq and causing to increase the resistance operations against the occupation, are among the causes that raised the sectarian war in Iraq.

Bringing together the Sunni and Shiite Clergies will have a good effect and influence on the nation to clarify the image and eventually prevent the sectarian war. Preventing and dismantling the influence of some militia groups supported from abroad, which have been penetrated into the army and security forces will help to solve this problem.

The stability in Iraq with the continuation of the current Iraqi constitution is not possible at the present. However, a new constitution must be constituted after taking into consideration the views and the concerns of the groups that always defended the unity of Iraq. The current constitution is the main source of all the problems which led the Kurds and certain Shiites groups to take some gains over the safety and security measures of Iraq.

Consequently, the constitution must accept Arabs, Kurds and the Turkmen as the main Iraqi components and Arabic must be the only official language in Iraq. However, the provincial federal system based on 18 provinces is highly recommended. Further more all natural resources should stay under the control of the central government.

The implementation of the Iraqi constitution articles on the issue of Kirkuk in the absence of stability opens a new arena of problems at present. In light of the changes that will occur on the constitution a joint management administration system in Kirkuk would be more realistic.

We must not forget that the Kurds in the north who constitute 18% of the population have occupied the presidency of the state and many other sensitive positions in a country where Arabs constitute majority. This will be always a source of lack of stability in Iraq.

Naturally, no one accepts his country to be an under occupation. The American forces longer remain in Iraq will raise the desire of the resistance among the population. The announcement of the withdrawal schedule after restoring stability and security in Iraq will reduce the people's support for organizations such as Al Qaeda and will marginalize the intensity of violence.

Consequently, benefiting from the natural resources under the supervision of the U.S. Administration and enhancing the economical situation will result in accelerating stability in Iraq.

Clearly, the term of the Turkmen has not been brought up in the American political agenda in Iraq. We in the Iraqi Turkmen Front have indicated through our attitude that we always demanded peace and stability in Iraq more than any other groups. Therefore, we are looking forward that our views and concerns would be taken into consideration in building the bright future of the new Iraq.

In addition to these opinions, I wish you all the best and the success in your work.

Dr. Sadettin Ergeç

Iraqi Turkmen Front

President

December 01, 2006

Ceasefire Campaign: Stop the War

2006-11-28T12:02:00.000+01:00

Dear friends,

The winds of political change are sweeping the United States. This month, the American people voted overwhelmingly to reject President Bush’s war in Iraq and the key architect of the war, US military chief Donald Rumsfeld, announced his resignation. This is the perfect time for a global public outcry to finally end this disastrous war.
To seize this opportunity, we are running an ad campaign in US and UK papers calling upon the US-led coalition to accept a larger role for the international community in finding a diplomatic solution, and a phased withdrawal of all its troops from Iraq. So far, almost 50,000 citizens from over 100 countries have signed on to the campaign – we need 100,000 signatures THIS WEEK so that our next round of ads can report a rising wave of global support. Please tell all your friends and family, and click below to the see the ad and endorse its call to action:

This is our chance to make sure the pressure of global public opinion is being felt by Coalition governments as they rethink their war in Iraq, pressing them to accept that they lack the legitimacy to bring stability and peace to the country, and that only a larger role for the international community in negotiating a political solution can stop the war.
We know why it’s so important to act. A shocking study released by Johns Hopkins University last month suggested that hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians have been killed in Iraq -- more than anyone thought -- and experts warn that the civil war is about to pass a point of no return. October was the worst month yet for civilian casualties, with death squads moving house to house. The killing could place Iraq alongside Darfur as one of the greatest human catastrophes of our new century.
We must not let that happen. And if we each act quickly this week, we can each play a role in stopping it.

We can reach our goal for this campaign by spreading the word. Please forward this email to as many of your friends and family as you can, and act now to add your voice to this urgent call for action:

www.CeasefireCampaign.org

This may be our best chance for peace yet. Let’s take it.

With hope,

Ricken, Rachel, Paul, Tom, Amparo and the Ceasefire Campaign team

As violence grows, oil-rich Kirkuk could hold key to Iraq's future

2006-10-27T20:48:00.000+02:00

Tribal chiefs call for return of Saddam while Kurds eye a new federal state

Michael Howard in KirkukFriday October 27, 2006

The Guardian

An Iraqi police commando walks by a burning humvee at the site of a suicide car bombing in the northern Iraqi oil hub of Kirkuk. Photograph: Marwan Ibrahim/AFP/Getty images
The tribal chiefs, in traditional robes and chequered headdresses, emerged from the dust stirred up by their convoy of pick-up trucks and walked towards the big white tent, gesturing welcomes to each other as they sat.
Accompanied by about 500 clansmen and a gaggle of local journalists, the 35 Sunni sheikhs - from Mosul, Tikrit, Samarra and Hawija - converged last week on Hindiya, on the scrappy western edges of Kirkuk, to swear their undying opposition to "conspiracies" to partition Iraq and to pledge allegiance to their president, Saddam Hussein.
Under banners exalting the man now standing trial in Baghdad for war crimes and genocide, the gathering heard speeches from prominent northern Iraqi sheikhs, Sunni Arab politicians and self-declared leaders of the Ba'ath party calling for the former dictator's release.>>>>>>

Conference; Kerkuk and reflections on the Turkmen situation and Iraq

2006-10-24T12:38:00.000+02:00

Mondiaal centrum / Stichting Tanis
Lange Herenvest 122 2011 BX Haarlem Netherlands
www.tanis-turkmen.nl
Subject: Conference about the referendum in the city Kerkuk / Iraq
Date : 05-11-2006
Address : De Balie Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10 1017 RR Amsterdam

After the 2003 war brought an end to the despotic Ba’ath regime, the Turkmen as an indigenous people 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 ocean of oil beneath its surface could be used to drive the economy of an independent Kurdish State, the ultimate goal for many Kurds. The Kurds hope to make the city of Kerkuk and its vast oil reserves part of an autonomous region whereas the Turkmen, Chaldo Assyrians and Arabs are fiercely opposing the inclusion of Kerkuk in an autonomous region. A Kurdish control over Kerkuk could fuel Kurdish nationalism in the region and undermine the rights of Turkmen, Arab and Chaldo Assyrian residents in Kerkuk and the city of Kerkuk itself has become almost synonymous with the abusive Kurdization campaign, which illustrates the persistency of the designs that the Kurds have on Kerkuk. This could lead to instability in the region and, possibly, civil war.
The Turkmen, as staunch believers in firm national principles, strongly reject article 58 and its clauses in the Iraqi constitution that are of great prejudice against the Turkmen and their national identity. The Turkmen, Arabs and Chaldo Assyrians are extremely worried over efforts aiming to make Kurds a majority in the northern Iraqi town of Kerkuk.
Due to the planned referendum to be held in Kerkuk late 2007, the issue of Kerkuk's status became potentially explosive for Iraq, and ethnic conflict over the city could spark violent clashes and even a civil war across Iraq, that could eventually lead to disintegration of the country.
Unless the international community acts soon to resolve mounting tensions in Kerkuk, the result could well be another violent communal conflict in Iraq, risking full-scale civil war and possibly outside military intervention. Thus a conference has been called by Iraqi Turkmen association “ Tanis” in Holland which would be held on the 5/11/2006 on the above subject.
Page 1
TIMETABLE OF THE DAY EVENTS ON THE 5/11/2006
14.00PM: INTRODUCTION SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE IRAQI TURKMEN ASSOCIATION (TANIS), MR. YALCHIN MUTAPCHI (10 MINUTES).
14.10PM: DISCUSSION ON THE HISTORY OF IRAQI TURKMEN BY DR. MOHAMMED SAAID AL-TURAYHI ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY ROTTERDAM (20 MINUTES).
14.30PM: A STUDY FOR THE POLITICAL SITUATION FOR THE IRAQI TURKMEN IN THE PAST AND PRESENT BY PROFESSOR DOCTOR SUPHI SAATCHI MIMAR SINAN UNIVERSITY ISTANBUL (30 MINUTES).
15.00PM: RREADING ABOUT A REFERENDUM IN KERKUK YEAR 2007 BY ASIF ISMAIL REP. OF IRAQI TURKMEN FRONT IN ENGLAND (20 MINUTES).
15.20PM: COFFEE BREAK (30MINUTES)
15.50PM: WITH THE QUESTIONS AND THE ANSWERS OPENED THE
DISCUSSIONS DOOR (45 MINUTES).
16.35PM: SUMMING UP
Gastes: Mr. Bertus Hendriks, World broadcasting in Amsterdam.
Prof. A. Bayat, chairman of Islamic university The Modern World (ISIM) in Leiden.
END THE SESSION
For further information on the above conference please contact us on the following email info@tanis-turkmen.nl
Mobl: 0640318673

Taliban Of Afghanistan And Talabani Of Iraq-Kurdistan: The Stan Of American Quandary

2006-10-12T10:16:00.000+02:00

By Ali Al-Hail
Al-Jazeerah, October 11, 2006
Recent frantic shift by the neocons in the US to negotiate with Taliban of Afghanistan, and to support demands from the Kurds led by Talabani, and Barzani of Iraq-Kurdistan conceivably, reflects the dilemmas they are facing in Afghanistan, and Iraq. Taliban forces in Afghanistan, after 5 years since the neocons’ war are stronger now than they have ever been, and in full intact. More significantly, inflicting high toll on the US-led NATO (IESAF) forces.
All the neocons’ reporting of quantifying killing of Taliban’s troops daily, has proved to be false, and is information withheld. Bombing Afghani civilians in thousands, including children, and women over the past half a decade has, for media consumption been perceivably, fabricated for killing Taliban fighters.
Strangely, enough in the last three months, American, British, Canadian, and now Nato sources have been alleging killing hundreds of Taliban fighters. Whilst field reports from Afghanistan show on daily basis Taliban frequent, and consistent attacks on Nato, American, British, and Canadian paratroops at the heart of Kabul, which is absolutely, incompatible with the Nato’s statistics. This situation has apparently, forced the neocons in the US to handle Taliban’s predicament to first the British, and Canadians, and lately, to the NATO.
As NATO forces have been facing fierce resistance from Taliban fighters, a good number of NATO countries were skeptical about sending troops to Afghanistan. Now there are confirmed reports by the NATO in fields that, three quarter of Afghanis are reported to have turned to Taliban, as their lives have drastically, been worsened, and not improved according to what they were promised 5 years ago.
The neocons have apparently, came to terms with the reality that, Taliban, like HizbullaH, the resistance in Iraq, the resistance in Palestine cannot be defeated, and the remaining way to deal with Taliban, is to negotiate with them.
As for Iraq, the neocons had it with their ‘opportunistic’ allies, the Shi’is, since they had completely, failed, among other issues to stop the resistance against the neocons-led coalition occupation. As a matter of fact, both the occupiers, and the puppet government headed by Nouri Al-Malki share this perceived failure. This harsh veracity has reportedly, pushed the neocons to direct the winds to the Kuds, further up in the North, accumulated by a visit recently, by Dr. Rice, the neocons’ secretary of state. A number of visits made by Talibani, and Barazani to the US has also, served this trend. Assuredly, is another quandary facing the neocons, and this time with Turkey.
The Iraqi- Kurd President, Talabani, and Barzani, the President of Iraq-Kurdistan eagerness for more autonomy, and for controlling the oil of Kirkuk, has allegedly, fallen upon listening ears of the neocons in the US.
Turkey does naturally, not seem to be pleased with the neocons’ closeness to the Kurds, who are edging their borders from the South. They already have a huge headache with the PKK inside their Southern-Eastern part of their country.
Since Turkey is a Nato member, and has always, been obedient to the neocons, since the first American Gulf war on Iraq in 1991, after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Turkish government monitors this new development with extreme vigilance. If a full independent, sovereign Kurdish state has to be founded at Northern Iraq, as indications point at this way Turkey will certainly, have its panics, and legitimate fears.
As the Kurds of Turkey, who have for centuries been demanding a Kurdish state at Southern-Eastern Turkey without a potential prospect, would take up the opportunity, and would join the seemingly, Kurdish promised state. Since the Kurds have never hidden their bitter feelings about the Turks, and vice versa the new state could become a source of serious threat to Turkey. Especially, if Kurkuk will be given away to them, as part of their state, which would make the Kurds rich and upper handed only, a few miles from the borders with Turkey.
A question arises here, will the Arab World accept another Foreign state (Israel is the first to be imposed on the Arab World)?, or else the neocons will be able to make them approve of it, as they have approved of Israel. Is the new US-led 8-Arab-state-Axis, amongst its agenda, is to do this?
Though, there is no ‘official’ contact between Taliban of Afghanistan, and Talabani, and his Kurds, both are predominantly, Muslim-Sunni. As such, Muslim movements in Iraq-Kurdistan, as well as ordinary Kurds, do have sympathy with Taliban, and Al-Qaeda.
Moreover, amongst Kurds supporting both Talibani, and Barazani, the two main influential secular leaders in Iraq-Kurdistan also, have a degree of sympathy with Taliban, and Al-Qaeda. They however, by backing their secular leaders, look forward to having a state which enjoy the neocons’ support, as they are now in Iraq, are the main influence upon the puppet government of Al-Maliki. Thus, it’s a business bargain, and opportunistic relations between the Kurds, and the neocons in the US, albeit, the Kurds’ radical stand historically, against the West.
Despite the fact that, Salahuddin, the Muslim-Kurd leader liberated Jerusalem during the Crusade Wars in the 11th century, secular Kurds led by Talabani, and his ally, Barzani at present are loyal to the US, and Israel. Israel, and the West generally, however, wouldn’t forgive the Kurd nation, for Salahuddin, whose name, and deeds stand as a role model for Arabs, and Muslims.

Part of Iraq Intelligence Report Is Released

2006-09-27T15:29:00.000+02:00

Part of Iraq Intelligence Report Is Released
'Political' Leaks of Paper Led to Decision, Bush Says

'Political' Leaks of Paper Led to Decision, Bush Says

By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 27, 2006; Page A01

The Bush administration yesterday released portions of a classified intelligence estimate that says the global jihadist movement is growing and being fueled by the war in Iraq even as it becomes more decentralized, making it harder to identify potential terrorists and prevent attacks.

The war in Iraq has become a "cause celebre" for jihadists, breeding resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim world and drawing new adherents to the movement, the assessment says. The growth in the number of potential terrorists is also being fed by corruption, slow-moving political reform in many Muslim countries and "pervasive" anti-American sentiment, according to the report.

Results Notification of Consultation Meeting

2006-08-29T11:36:00.000+02:00

ITF Press
28.08.2006
The Results of the 2nd Consultation Meeting which was organized by the Iraqi Turkmen Front and the participation of Turkmen organizations outside Iraq was held in Ankara on the 22-23rd of August 2006 have been undersigned and a decision was taken to release them to the public: "The ITF, which was born from the bosom of Turkmeneli with the intent of uniting the Turkmen under one roof, has entered the politization process in its 11th year and starting from 2005. ......>

'Iraq Undergoing a Critical Period', Says Turkish Iraqi Leader

2006-08-26T02:45:00.000+02:00

Speaking at a meeting held on Tuesday in the Turkish capital Ankara, Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) chairman Sadettin Ergec has said that Turkomans were moving through a critical period.
Today's meeting which brought together representatives of Turkomans living outside Iraq took place at the Ankara Turkmeneli Culture Center. The ITC Chairman stated in his speech that the Iraqi Turkomans were struggling for their existence in the country.....>

Oil-rich Kirkuk must remain Iraqi city

2006-08-26T02:22:00.000+02:00

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
Turkmen groups have said the inclusion of the disputed northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk within the local Kurdish government in the north of Iraq cannot be accepted. “Under the current circumstances, a referendum slated for late 2007 will not solve the problem. In fact, decisions made on Kirkuk are contradictory and lack a legal basis,” said a draft summary issued yesterday after a two-day meeting of Turkmen groups in Ankara. .....>

ITC: Annexation of Kirkuk unacceptable

2006-08-26T02:20:00.000+02:00

Friday , 25 August 2006
The Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) yesterday expressed its opposition to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk coming under the Iraqi Kurdistan regional government and called for a special status for the city.
The ITC and around 60 political groups and organizations from the Turkmen diaspora issued a final declaration yesterday following a two-day meeting in Ankara.
Underlining that the Kirkuk issue is the main priority of Iraqi Turkmens, the ITC expressed its support for Kirkuk being given a special status like Baghdad and not being controlled by any regional administration. It also warned that Turkmens will continue their struggle against injustices against Turkmens using all democratic means.

Iraq: Kirkuk Must Remain An Iraqi City

2006-08-26T02:15:00.000+02:00

August 25, 2006 16 40 GMT
The oil-rich northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk must not come under the control of the regional government of Kurdistan, Turkomen groups said in a statement Aug. 25. The Turkomen added that if Kirkuk does not remain under Iraqi control, they will use every means within their rights to end injustices taking place in Turkomen-populated areas.

Three Turkmen shot dead in Kirkuk after Turkmen-Kurd fighting in nearbytown

2006-08-26T01:46:00.000+02:00

Sat Aug 23, 6:20 PM ET

KIRKUK, Iraq (AFP) - Three Turkmen were shot dead by police in Iraq

(news - web sites)'s northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, Kirkuk GovernorAbdul Rahman Mustafa said. The deaths came a day after fighting between Turkmen and Kurds in nearbyTuz Khurmatu left eight dead on both sides, while two more Turkmen werekilled by US soldiers as the US-led coalition faced the spectre ofgrowing ethnic fighting. The three Turkmen were gunned down after they opened fire on a policebuilding during a demonstration, Mustafa said. "Elements seeking to destabilize Kirkuk ... exploited the peacefuldemonstration and opened fire on the police building without anyjustification, prompting the police to return fire," Mustafa told AFP. "This led to the killing of three of the demonstrators," he said. Three policemen, including an officer, were also wounded. Irsan Kirkuly, a Turkmen member of the city's local council, earliertold AFP that three Turkmen were arrested during the protest. Three cars, including a police vehicle, were destroyed. Colonel Bill Mayville, commander of US-led coalition forces in Kirkuk,met with representatives of all communities in the multi-ethnic city --which is home to Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and Assyrian Christians -- in aneffort to restore calm. "The situation is now secure in the town," Mustafa said, after mostresidents had rushed to their homes and shop-owners shut their stores. Demonstrators included residents of Tuz Khurmatu, where fighting betweenKurds and Turkmen on Friday left eight dead on both sides and anothertwo Turkmen were killed by US soldiers. According to Kahya Galib, a member of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, thefighting in Tuz Khurmatu, 60 kilometers (40 miles) south of Kirkuk,broke out after unidentified elements fired a rocket-propelled grenadeat a Shiite religious site revered by Shiite Turkmen residents. A town official told AFP that eight people, five Turkmen and threeKurds, were killed in the clashes, which he blamed on elements of thetoppled Baath Party of ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein (news - websites). Ten Turkmen and three Kurds were injured, said Tuz Khurmatu's Kurdishmayor Mohammad Rashid Mohammad. US soldiers also killed two Turkmen during a demonstration in TuzKhurmatu Friday, a US military spokesman said. Friday's fighting broke out amid deep tensions in the town between itsKurdish majority and Arab and Turkmen minorities. Tuz Khurmatu was sealed off by US troops Saturday, said an AFP reporteron the site. Lieutenant Colonel Bill MacDonald said 4th Infantry Division soldiersentered the town in response to reports of "Iraqi-on-Iraqi violence"erupting during what he thought was a Turkmen demonstration. Upon entering the town, a US military patrol was fired on by a group offour Turkmen, MacDonald said. The soldiers responded and "killed two of them and slightly wounded twoothers," he added. "Local leaders were able to calm down the situation and disperse thecrowd. An investigation is ongoing." Captain George Swenson, who heads coalition forces in Tuz Khurmatu, toldAFP that the town was "stable but still on knife" Saturday. Tensions have risen in Tuz Khurmatu as the Kurds have demanded that thetown be transferred to the Kurdish-majority governorate of Kirkuk fromthe Arab-majority province of Salahuddin, in which it currently lies. A Turkmen representative in the Kurdish city of Arbil, Jawdat al-Najar,said the clashes in Tuz Khurmatu were provoked by "those who don't wantstability in Iraq." Najar, who is president of the Turkmen cultural association, called onTurkmen and Kurds to avoid any further confrontation and find a peacefulsettlement. About 200 Kurds protested outside the Kirkuk government building lastSunday demanding that they be incorporated within the province. Arab police officers complained last week at a checkpoint outside thetown that Kurds were dominating life in Tuz Khurmatu, grabbing all keygovernment positions and businesses since Saddam's fall in April.

Maliki on United Iraq

2006-08-18T19:25:00.000+02:00

"It's significant to note that the one thing he [Mr. Maliki] said was that Arabs, Kurds, Christians, Sunni, Shia, and Turkmen should be united with each other to form a country united to defeat terrorism." .......>

Call for release of newspaper editor kidnapped in Baghdad

2006-08-18T18:49:00.000+02:00

Iraq 18.08.2006
Reporters Without Borders voiced concern today about the fate of journalist Seif Abd al-Jabbar al-Tamimi, who was kidnapped on 15 August in the Al Adil district of Baghdad. His abductors have not yet made any demands and it has yet to be clearly established whether his kidnapping is linked to his work as editor of Al-Akha, a newspaper that supports a party that defends Iraq’s Turkmen minority.
“We call for the immediate release of Tamimi and all the other journalists and media assistants held in Iraq,” Reporters Without Borders said. The organisation is still hoping for the release of three others who have been kidnapped.
Iraqi journalist Reem Zeid and her colleague Marwan Khazaal of Sumariya TV have been hostages for more than six months. They were kidnapped by four gunmen on 1 February as they left a news conference at the headquarters of the Iraqi Islamic Party in the west Baghdad district of Yarmouk. Sumariya TV is still without any word of their fate.
Salah Jali al-Gharrawi, an accountant working for the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Baghdad, was kidnapped on 4 April by gunmen in two vehicles with tinted windows and no licence plates. More than four months later, AFP is not aware of any claim of responsibility and still does not know who his abductors are.
A total of 49 journalists and media assistants have been kidnapped in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003. Instead of being afforded a degree of security by the fact that they work for the media, journalists have been singled out as targets.

The Turkmen of Iraq: Underestimated, Marginalized and exposed to assimilation Terminology

2006-08-15T12:04:00.000+02:00

The Turkmen of Iraq: Underestimated, Marginalized and exposed to assimilation Terminology
2005-06-08
Report of the SOITM on Turkmen of Iraq before the 11th session of Working Group on Minorities – United Nations - Geneva
WORKING GROUP ON MINORITIES11th session(30 May to 3 June 2005, Geneva, Switzerland)
The Turkmen of Iraq: Underestimated, Marginalized and exposed to assimilation Terminology
The term Turkmen, which first appeared in the 9th century, is used to describe the people of Turkmenistan and all the Turkic people in the west and southern west countries of the Caspian Sea: Turkey, Azerbaijan Republic, Azerbaijan of Iran, Arabic countries (Iraq, Syria and others) and the Balkan countries.
HistoryTurkic people were already in Iraq under the Sasanians.2 In the early Islamic era, the Turks arrival in Iraq started with the settlement of about 4000 Bukharan Turks under the Umayyad governor of Basra Ubeydullah Ibn Ziyad in 673 – 674.3 For most of the time when the Abbasids ruled from Baghdad (744 - 1258) the Turkish soldiers were figureheads of the army under Turkish commanders.4 In the Samanid (819 - 999) army the Turkish militia was an important element. In the Buyid (932-1062) army, the Turkmen element was the main military force.5 With the Seljuks the Turkmen became the real sovereigns in Iraq. The Turkmen, who were the second largest nationality in Iraq under the Buyids, had further increased in number during the Seljuk period.6 During the Atabeg era, a large gathering of Turkmen took place in Iraq.7 Other waves of Turkmen entered Iraq in the winter of 1231, when the Mongols defeated the Khawarazm Shah Jalal al-Din, they spread in al-Jazeerah cities: Sinjar, Khabur and Harran. The arrival of the Turkmen in Iraq reached its climax under the Mongols. Turkmen continued to arrive in Iraq at the time of the Qara Qoyunlu, the Aq Qoyunlu and the Ottomans. While the Shabaks (Qizilbash or Alawi) were the Turkmen soldiers of Shah Ismail who came to Iraq under the Safawis.
DemographyThe Turkmen of Iraq live mainly in a region, which stretches from Talafar in the Northwest to Badra and al-Aziziyya in the al-Kut province in mid eastern Iraq. They are found in the following provinces: Kerkuk,9 Mosul, Erbil, Salah al-Din, Diyala, Kut and Baghdad. The largest Turkmen population concentration is found in the city of Kerkuk whose linguistics, cultural and ethnic identity is distinctly colored by their presence.10Tavuk, Taza Khurmatu sub-districts and tens of villages in the Kerkuk province are Turkmen. The number of Turkmen in Erbil city is estimated to be no less than 250.000. Altun Kopri which was detached from Kerkuk in 1976 and annexed to Erbil is a large Turkmen sub-district. The Turkmen of Mosul are living in the large Talafar district (Population is 227,000), sub-districts of Iyadhiyya (11.000) plus 10 villages and Muhallabiyya (8.500) plus 7 villages, the large villages of Qara Qoyunlu (11.000), Rashidiyya (25.000), Shirikhan, Sallamiyya and in the Sinjar (about 20.000) city. There are a large number of Turkmen in Mosul city (about 30.000), the city’s largest area ‘Prophet Jonah’ is a Turkmen neighborhood. Heavily inhabited Turkmen Bayat and Duz Khurmatu districts were annexed to Salah al-Din Province in 1976. Bestamli, Amirli and Sulayman Pak are from the large sub-districts of the latter province. The biggest and heavily Kurdified and Arabified Turkmen cities are found in Diyala province: Kifri District, which was detached from Kerkuk province in 1976, Kara Tepe, Kizil Rabat, Shahraban, Mandali and Khanakin.11,12,13 The Turkmen speakers still constitute a considerable part of the population of Badra in al-Kut province. Those who forgot their mother language are still proud of their Turkmen origin as in al-Aziziyya. According to the Turkmen writers the Turkmen of Baghdad are estimated to be 50,000 families or 300.000 people.
Population sizeThe Turkmen of Iraq are considered the third largest ethnic group in Iraq. Due to the undemocratic environment, their number has always been underestimated. It was fixed at 2% of the total Iraqi population during the negotiations of the Mosul issue in the establishment of the Iraqi State after the World War I.According to McDowell14 the Turkmen outnumbered other nationalities in Kerkuk province as a whole in the 1950s. The population of Kerkuk province was 388,939 of 6.250.000 of the total Iraqi population. The population of Arabs and Christians did not exceed 20-30 thousand in Kerkuk province.15 There should have been at least 180,000 Turkmen in Kerkuk province alone making up 2.9% of the total Iraqi population, not taking into account other Turkmen living in Erbil, Mosul, Diyala etc.Despite missing Turkmen voters in Mosul (not less than half million Turkmen population), Diyala and Baghdad the number of the Turkmen in the present Iraqi National Council is 15, this makes 5.5% of the total.
Political Situation (Tragedy)Since the establishment of the Iraqi State in 1921, the Turkmen are living between the other ethnic groups who had developed high nationalist feelings. The Arabs possessed the power of governing and the Kurds received helps and supports (financial, moral and even weapons) from the international community, while the Turkmen remained helpless. Their Human rights were violated by successive Iraqi governments. Turkmen officials were reduced in the government offices. Study in Turkmen language was terminated in 1932.16. They were exposed to displacement and deportation, deprived from cultural rights, not permitted to register themselves as Turkmen in censuses and they were enforced to change their nationality. Meanwhile the neighboring countries and the international community were and are still unaware of/or indifferent to their lot.17 Unfortunately the Turkmen tragedy, continued after the occupation of Iraq in 2003. Most probably because of the non-cooperative Turkish policy toward the occupation of Iraq, the occupation policy aims to marginalize the Turkmen of Iraq as it happened when the Governing Council and the Temporary Government were constituted. The heavily populated Turkmen district of Talafar has been neglected for about a century: the majority of houses are still built of adobes, the schools and roads have not been renovated for several decades, it has repeatedly been deprived of electricity or water for several months. They had to use the unhealthy water of the small river for washing and drinking. At present piped water from the municipality is provided for only a few hours a week to the houses.Despite extremely sporadic attacks or insult were directed toward the occupying power in the district of Talafar, sub-district Iyadhiyya and recently the large village Rashidiyya are heavily and repeatedly exposed to the attacks of the American tanks and helicopters and of the National Guards, which are constituted mainly of Kurdish Pashmargas.
Distortion of the Demography of the Turkmen regionsArabification. The Arabification policies of Kerkuk City began as early as in the 1930s, when the cabinet of Yasin Al-Hashimi made 2 racist decisions: Termination of study in Turkmen language in 193216 and the huge al-Hawije project to cultivate the vast plain at the west of Kerkuk City to settle the Arab tribes of Al-Ubeyd and Al-Jubur. With the establishment of the Republic, appointment of Turkmen dropped off and the Turkmen were discharged from the important positions in the governmental offices. In the dictatorial Ba’ath period, the assimilation and forced deportation of Turkmen from Kerkuk City started. The Turkmen were not allowed to buy immovable proprieties. After 1970s, Arabs have enjoyed special incentives and rights, which encouraged thousands of families to obey the order of the Ba’ath Party and settle in the historically Turkmen area Kerkuk. In the 1970s, the names of tens of villages and districts in Kerkuk province were officially given Arabic names. Large numbers of Turkmen families were given deportation notification from Kerkuk at the end of November 1993.18 Kurdification. Erbil city was almost completely Turkmen at the turn of the 19th century.12 It is mainly Kurdified and now made the Capital of so-called Kurdistan. The main Turkmen city Kerkuk, which was almost completely populated by Turkmen, was exposed to the Kurdish emigration in the 1930s and 1940s.19, 20 While the reason of Kurdification was economical and social at the beginning, with the set up of Kurdish uprising in the beginning of 1960, it took the form of political trend. McDowall describes the Kurdish policy toward Kerkuk city as follows:“For both Arabs and Kurds the value of Kerkuk city had been greatly enhanced by the nationalization of the oil industry. At the beginning of 1974 oil revenue was expected to be ten times higher than in 1972. A huge resource was now at stake. Kerkuk accounted for 70 per cent of the state’s total oil output and Mulla Mustafa felt bound to claim both the town itself and a proportion of its oil revenue”21The most acute and heavy Kurdish movement into Kerkuk city started with the support of American authorities after the occupation of Iraq. Over a period of a few months about 200.000 Kurds entered Kerkuk. Today, the estimated number of the Kurds, which entered Kerkuk city after the fall of the previous regime is 350,000.22 Thousands of the governmental buildings, were occupied by the Kurdish families and Kurdish Pashmargas. Several Shanty houses, which include hundreds of houses, started to be built around the city.23
Manipulation in the recent general electionIt can be concluded that the manual manipulations are among the largest drawbacks of the preceding Iraqi election, see the reports of the Iraqi Turkmen organizations reference.241. According to UNICEF and the US Department of state the population of Iraq was 25.175.000 in 2003 and 24.011.416 in 2002, consecutively. The Population annual growth rate was 2.82%. Then the Population number at the end of 2004 should be 25.884.935 and 25.375.302. According to UNICEF the percentage of Iraqis above 18 years of age is 52.2%. The total number of voters at the end of 2004 should be 13.511.936 and 13.245.908, consecutively. The voters outside Iraq were 283.460. While the number which the Independent Iraqi Election Commission determined is 14.596.551. The surplus or not present vote number is 0.75 – 1 million.25,26 To whom were these votes counted?.The leading feelings or ideologies of the Iraqi people today are ethnical and religious. From whom the Prime Minister Allawi got 11.689.943.2. Duhok as almost purely Kurdish is one of the smallest provinces of Iraq. The population number of this province is 472.238. The number of voters is 378.990. This makes 80.3% of the population above 18. The percentage of turnout in Duhok was 92%, which is also impossible because there are hundreds of villages between the mountains. In this province the Kurdish alliance won 95%. This reminds that Saddam also won 97%!3. According to the census 1987 the population number in the three Kurdish provinces of Duhok, Sulaymaniyya and Erbil was 1.977.982. The Population annual growth rate from 1990 to 2003 was 2.9%.23 Then the population number in these three provinces should be 3.215.760 and the voters should be 1.678.626. The Kurdish regional government showed the number of voters to be about 2.030.411.4. The real total number of Iraqi voters is accounted as 13.511.936. The real total number of Kurdish voters is 2,243,268. The percentage of the Kurdish voters is 16.6%. According to the most reliable references the Kurdish percentage in Iraq is around 17%. This means that ALMOST ALL the Iraqi Kurds ALL OVER THE WORLD have cast their votes!5. Estimated number of Turkmen in Mosul is not less than 500.000. There cities were mentioned above. For all these Turkmen regions, for which should be instituted more than 30 boxes, there opened only 4 boxes in Talafar. To hamper the election processes, The American forces and the national guards started to bomb the citadel neighborhood of the city at the early morning. Showing the unsafe situation two of the four-election center was closed after a few hours. Despite being assigned previously, the voting boxes, ballots, the supervisors, and other election necessities did not arrive in the areas of both Turkmen sub-districts of Iyadiyyah and Muhallabiyya and the large village Sallamiyya, Kara Koyunlu and Rashidiyya with all the villages annexed.This happened also in the Christian regions of the plain of Nineveh: district of Al-Hamdaniyya, Karamlesh, Bartilla County, in Bashiqa, Bahzani, and the district of Al-Shaikhan. In the towns of Al-Qosh, Tel-Sqof, Batnaya, and Tel-Keif the voting ballots were not enough.6. Before the election about 2 weeks and after the visit of the Deputy of US Department of State (Armitage) to the Kurdish leaders Barzani and Talabani and to the President and Iraqi Prime Minister in Baghdad, The Independent Election commission in Baghdad called the head (Ali Abbus) and (Nihad Abbas) one of the staffs of Independent Election sub-Commission in Kerkuk. In a meeting attended by the former Prime Minister of Talabani, Bahram Salah and from the Kurdish politicians Adil Murat and several other Kurds. The orders were given to the Kerkuk Independent election commission to register any Kurd in Kerkuk city (while the registration period was ended). They appointed 3 inspectors and 10 staffs in Kerkuk commission almost all were Kurds or pro-Kurds. All the information about the new registered Kurds were kept in the newly opened centers and not given to the Election commission of Kerkuk: forms and the lists of the names.
Building of New IraqIn a country like Iraq with multiple ethnicities, religions and ideologies the Democratic System will be the best to construct the new state. A Decent Election and a Democratic Constitution are essential. Accurate Population Registration Records, Independent Election Commission and Reliable Election Registration constitute the basic factors to achieve a decent election.Whereas census and then the election are from the extreme necessities in Iraq, the obstacles are great and numerous: Insecurity, occupation troops, insufficient knowledge of Democracy by the Iraqis, huge psychological demands of the Iraqi to get their cultural rights, unreliable population registration data and insufficient experience of election procedures.The Kurds and the occupation authorities played the leading role in all the processes of Election in the Northern provinces: preparing the election forms and boxes and distributing to the election centers, watching the voting processes, collecting and transportation of the boxes from election centers and guarding centers which continued for about a week.
Unfortunately, there were NO international election observers or any other independent observers in the Northern provinces.To achieve reliable elections:- The European council, the European countries, the United Nations and International Human Rights representatives should participate actively and directly in all stages of the Election, particularly in the Northern Provinces where the Kurds dominate the ruling system.- Collecting and guarding of the boxes should never be given to the American army and national guards. A well known neutral international organization or a consortium of international organizations should be chosen to prepare a scientific method to perform the first fair census in Iraq. So that the facts be established.- The European council should have several representatives appointed in High Election Commission.- The population registration data of the Northern provinces, which the Kurdish parties present, should be checked by the specialists for accuracy.- The automated electronic system should be used in voting and accounting.

References

SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS FOR ONE YEAR UNITED NATIONS ASSISTANCE MISSION IN IRAQ (UNAMI)

2006-08-12T13:32:00.000+02:00

Iraqi Government Seeks Extended United Nations Presence,

Says World Body Vital to Transition from ‘Tyranny to Democracy’

Welcoming a request from the new Iraqi Government that the United Nations continue helping the war-torn country build peace and security and restore its shattered physical and economic infrastructure, the Security Council today extended for 12 months the world body’s Mission in Iraq.Adopting resolution 1700 (2006), the Council again unanimously extended the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) through 10 August 2007, reaffirming the United Nations lead role in assisting the Iraqi people and Government in strengthening institutions and promoting national dialogue and unity.In a 3 August letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan (document S/2006/609), Iraq’s Foreign Minister had requested the further extension, saying that his Government was mindful of UNAMI’s historic role in Iraq’s transition from “tyranny to democracy”. He believed that the Mission had an ongoing vital role to play in helping “build a productive and prosperous Iraq at peace with itself and its neighbours”.The Secretary-General had earlier requested the extension (document S/2006/601), warning the Council that Iraq “continued to face formidable political, security and economic challenges” and still needed the support of the international community. Insurgent, militia and terrorist attacks had continued unabated in many parts of Iraq, with sectarian violence posing an increasing threat to its people, he added.The Council’s action allows the Mission, whose mandate was set to expire tomorrow, to continue helping Iraq in key areas identified by the Secretary-General, such as drafting a constitution, setting up an elected Government and providing social services and humanitarian assistance. UNAMI was also helping to rebuild the country, reform its legal and judicial systems, promote human rights and organize a census.Also according to the resolution, the Iraqi Government could ask the Council to review the Mission’s mandate at any time before it expiration in August 2007.

Turkey seeks pre-referendum deal on Kirkuk's status

2006-08-12T05:05:00.000+02:00

The priority of the talks in Istanbul is now on a consensus among Kirkuk groups on what the status of the city should be. If no consensus emerges, then the focus may again shift to the delay of the referendum ....>

Gunmen storm Kurdish offices in southern Iraq

2006-08-12T04:55:00.000+02:00

KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - Gunmen angered by criticism of a Shi'ite cleric ransacked offices of President Jalal Talabani's Kurdish party in southern Iraq on Friday after a newspaper claimed the cleric was fanning sectarian tensions.
Jameel Zangana, a senior official with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Kerbala, said gunmen smashed windows and doors of the PUK office in the city.
In the nearby city of Kut, police said one guard was injured during a similar attack by about 50 men on the PUK office.
The attacks came after Fadhila -- a Shi'ite party powerful in the southern Iraqi city of Basra -- demanded an apology from Talabani for an article in a PUK-owned newspaper accusing its top cleric, Sheikh al-Yaqoubi, of "pouring oil on fire to inflame a war between Arab Shi'ites and Kurds" in Kirkuk......>

The End of Iraq

2006-08-09T00:12:00.000+02:00

Kurdish Delight
A flawed case for an independent Kurdistan.
By Michael Hirsh

Criticizing George W. Bush for his mistakes in Iraq nowadays is the authorial equivalent of taking on the Washington Nationals. As a challenge, it's just too easy to be interesting, or sporting. While commentators still squabble over the details--which was worse, Rumsfeld's decision to put in too few troops or Bremer's decision to disband the Iraqi army? Yada yada yada--the disastrous errors made in invading and occupying Iraq are already confirmed historical fact. They are disputed by no responsible or knowledgeable person, outside of a small circle of Kool-Aid sippers in the White House. Some new books, like Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, by The Washington Post's Thomas Ricks, have supplied a wealth of fascinating new detail, but for the most part, the critics have had their day. continue

Iraq Turkmen Front local leader shot dead

2006-07-26T11:56:00.000+02:00

FACTBOX-Developments in Iraq on July 24
24 Jul 2006 20:33:37 GMT24 Jul 2006 20:33:37 GMT
Source: Reuters
MOSUL - Gunmen killed Wathiq Yunis, the local head of the Turkmen Front, a small political party, along with his three bodyguards in Mosul, police said.

Iraq and the Kurds: The Brewing Battle over Kirkuk

2006-07-19T21:19:00.000+02:00

Middle East Report N°56 18 juillet 2006
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
As all eyes are turned toward efforts to stabilise Iraq, the conflict that has been percolating in Kirkuk remains dangerous and dangerously neglected. That struggle is equal parts street brawl over oil riches, ethnic competition over identity between Kurdish, Turkoman, Arab and Assyrian-Chaldean communities, and titanic clash between two nations, Arab and Kurd. Given the high stakes, the international community cannot afford to stand by, allowing the situation to slip into chaos by default. It needs to step in and propose a solution that addresses all sides’ core concerns without crossing their existential red lines. The most viable negotiated outcome, which a special UN envoy should mediate between leaders of Kirkuk’s communities as well as representatives of the federal government and the Kurdish federal region, would rest on the following provisions:

Click here to view the full report as a PDF file in A4 format.For more information about viewing PDF documents, please click here. This document is also available in MS-Word format

2006-07-18T22:07:00.000+02:00

Kirkuk: Kurdish Police shoot two Turkmen protesters

Turkmeni cafe in Kirkuk hit by suicide bomber; at least 25 killed

2006-07-18T21:44:00.000+02:00

Hürriyet 18.07.2006

A cafe frequented by ethnic Turkmeni citizens 80 kilometers to the south of Kirkuk was hit yesterday by a suicide bomber. Initial estimates are that 25 Turkmeni were killed in the attack. Ahmet Muratli, a representative from the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC), said there was worry that the death count from the bombing, which took place Sunday evening around 18:00, could go higher. Muratli reported that the suicide bomber entered the Aksu Cafe, a popular site for Shiite Turkmeni along the Tusurmati River, and asked for a glass of water before pulling the pin on his bomb. Work aimed at pulling the bodies of the dead out of the cafe was still going on last night at 22:00. The Turkish Foreign Ministry is following the situation closely, with special head advisor Altay Cengizer reporting on developments in the region to Foreign Ministry Abdullah Gul. Just two days ago, the president of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, Sadettin Ergec, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on him in Kirkuk.

Terrorists aimed Dr. Sadeddin Ergec, the Iraqi Turkmen Front leader

2006-07-18T21:40:00.000+02:00

kerkuk.net 16.07.2006

Once again terrorism aimed at the Iraqi Turkmen Front parade presented by Dr. Sadeddin Ergec, yesterday afternoon of the 15th of July 2006 in the Turkmen city of Kirkuk. This action was part of the new terrorist series targeting Turkmen leaders and intellectuals in Kirkuk and the rest of Turkmen regions (Turkmeneli). While the convoy of the ITF leader was heading to the Baghdad Street region in Kirkuk, a booby-trapped car exploded when the procession passed, wounding four members of the protection personnel of the Turkmen Front. A number of Turkmen citizens at the same location were also injured during the explosion and they were all transferred to Kirkuk General Hospital to receive treatment. It should be noted that this is similar to the first attempt to assassinate the President of the Iraqi Turkmen Front since he assumed the leadership of the ITF. In a television interview conducted by the Turkmeneli TV with Dr. Sadeddin Ergec after the assassination attempt, President of the Front declared that: “Such operations will not fear, and it will not prevent us from the service of Iraq and all Iraqis. The Iraqi Turkmen Front will remain conservative and insisting on the unity of Iraq's territory and people. Moreover, such operations will not stop us from striving, but on contrary, it would strengthen the determination in achieving our demands and rights. We know very well that such operation is only part of intimidation to force the indigenous people of Kirkuk to migrate. The terrorists in Kirkuk will be defeated and the Turkmen would remain stronger than ever before and they remain in their city”. The same day a bomb was exploded in one of the Internet libraries in Khalil Agha shopping centre in Kirkuk, killing the shop owner and wounding a number of Turkmen civilians.Iraqi Turkmen FrontUK RepresentationInformation Office15 July 2006

40 killed in Iraq market massacre

2006-07-17T23:29:00.000+02:00

(AP)17 July 2006
The death toll from the Tuz Khurmatu suicide bombing on Sunday rose to 28, according to the latest toll from the police.
A suicide bomber walked into a cafe in the town about 75 kilometres (50 miles) from the oil city of Kirkuk and reportedly asked for a glass of water before blowing himself up, police said.
“Of the dead, 25 were Turkmen Shiites and three others were Kurds,” said Colonel Abbas Mohammed Amin, police chief of Tuz Khurmatu. ....>

Iraq market attack kills 55

2006-07-17T23:27:00.000+02:00

Monday 17 July 2006, 13:37 Makka Time, 10:37 GMT
Worst attack
It was one of the worst attacks in the country in recent months and came on the anniversary of the coup that brought Saddam Hussein's Baath party to power in 1968.
On Sundday, a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people in a cafe outside the capital, and the head of the country's North Oil Company was kidnapped in Baghdad....>

26 die after a suicide bomb attack on Iraq café

2006-07-17T23:25:00.000+02:00

ROBERT REID IN BAGHDAD
AT LEAST 26 people were killed and 25 others injured when a suicide bomber targeted an Iraq café yesterday.
Witnesses said the bomber asked for a glass of water before detonating himself. The blast was so powerful that it collapsed the ceiling of the one-storey building, burying many of the victims.....>

Twenty dead in north Iraq suicide bomb

2006-07-17T23:17:00.000+02:00

Sunday, 16 Jul 2006 20:12

More than 20 people are thought to have been killed after a suicide bomber detonated himself in a bustling cafe in northern Iraq this evening.

Scores of people were injured in the blast, which occurred in a popular coffee shop in the majority-Turkmen town of Tuz Khormato, which is 120 miles north of Baghdad. ....>

ITF at Canadian national day reception

2006-07-05T12:21:00.000+02:00

Among the guests were National Security Council (MGK) Secretary-General Yiğit Alpogan and his wife, Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO) Chairman Sinan Aygün, True Path Party (DYP) Deputy Chairman and former Ambassador Nüzhet Kandemir, former president of the Higher Education Board (YÖK) Kemal Gürüz and Iraqi Turkmen Front's (ITC) Turkey representative Ahmet Muratlı as well as the ambassadors of Australia, Oman, Belgium, Bangladesh, Egypt, Slovenia, South Africa, Croatia, China, Israel, Argentina, Poland, Tunisia, Slovakia, Albania, Venezuela, Iraq, Lithuania, Estonia, Jordan, Japan, the Czech Republic, the United States, Germany, Finland, Macedonia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Italy and a number of guests, including military attachés.

Zabari: We Need Turkey in Iraq

2006-07-04T19:57:00.000+02:00

By Fatih Atik,

Ankara

Published: Tuesday, July 04, 2006 zaman.com

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiar Zabari, meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday, asked him to lead initiatives to end the Sunni-Shiite tensions in his country.
Claiming that the tension is dragging Iraq into a civil war, Zabari said, “Iraq needs Turkey in all areas, including security. Help us.”
In response, Erdogan highlighted the importance of territorial unity and promised Iraq can always count on Turkey for support.
Erdogan had invited Iraq’s new Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to Turkey and had communicated Ankara’s expectations to fight the terror network PKK (Kurdish Workers’ Party), the situation in Kerkuk (Kirkuk) and the opening of the second border gate.
In a closed-door meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office, Zabari asked Erdogan to “personally make efforts and to lead” initiatives to establish security in Iraq.
Zabari asked Erdogan to step in and help prevent a possible civil war.
“You have made important contributions in the establishment of domestic security and in easing the Sunni-Shiite tensions in Iraq. However, we need your leadership to help end this conflict. We are keeping a close eye on your activities to prevent the ‘clash of civilizations’ and for global peace. We expect you to conduct similar activities for the establishment of domestic security in Iraq, too.”
‘Turkey will pull its weight’
Zabari brought greetings from Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister al-Maliki to Erdogan and informed him that the majority of Iraqis think fondly of Turkey.
“Iraq needs Turkey. We need cooperation in all fields including security, economy, energy, and commerce. Please give them a helping hand.”
In reply, Erdogan said, “The most important problem in Iraq is security at the moment and Turkey is prepared to pull its weight in this issue. It is difficult to cooperate in other areas without first establishing security. We appreciate the Maliki government’s efforts to establish security.”
The PM stressed that Iraqis should have a common understanding and emphasized the importance of national consensus.
Erdogan sent the message that “All Iraqis should strive for unity. Their basic needs, especially the security, should be met. It is important for all Iraqis to act in unity and not succumb to external pressures in order to secure tranquility.”
For the Kerkuk (Kirkuk) issue, Erdogan said that consideration should be given to the region’s Turkmen population and recommended measures to prevent the migration of other ethnic groups to the region.

IRAQ: UN MISSION CONCERNED AT UPSURGE IN PEOPLE DISPLACED BY RECENT VIOLENCE

2006-06-29T19:09:00.000+02:00

New York, Jun 28 2006 11:00 AM

The recent upsurge of violence in Iraq over the past four months has uprooted a further 150,000 people across the war-torn country, bringing the total of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to 1.3 million, according to the United Nations mission there.“Displacement is not a phenomena exclusive to any specific region, ethnicity or creed. Indeed, displacement since the 22 February bombing of the (Shiite) Samara shrine has equally affected all of Iraq’s diverse communities on a nationwide basis,” the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (<"http://www.uniraq.org/">UNAMI) said in a <"http://www.uniraq.org/get_article.asp?Language=EN&ArticleID=179">statement.“While addressing the immediate needs of Iraq's internally displaced is critical, UNAMI stresses the need to focus on developing mechanisms to allow for the safe and dignified return of displaced Iraqis to their homes. Achieving this will be central to Iraq's long-term stability,” it added.In an effort to support the Iraqi government in meeting the emergency needs of these people, the UN and its partners have distributed assistance to over 12,500 of the most vulnerable recently displaced families.It is estimated that there are 1.3 million IDPs in Iraq, nearly 5 per cent of the total population. While many were displaced as long ago as the early 1980s, the last four months of increasing violence and relentless sectarian tensions have resulted in the sudden mass increase. In the last fortnight alone, 3,200 families have fled Ramadi to neighbouring towns as a result of the military operations there. 2006-06-28 00:00:00.000

Status of Kirkuk is for Iraqis to decide

2006-06-24T23:39:00.000+02:00

US insisting on hands-off policy on Kirkuk
Friday, June 23, 2006

ÜMİT ENGİNSOY

WASHINGTON -Turkish Daily News

Despite warnings by Turkey that an ongoing Kurdification of northern Iraq's oil-rich and multiethnic city of Kirkuk would likely lead to a major conflict, the United States has said it would not intervene.
Asked to comment on remarks made by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that Kirkuk should be given a special status within Iraq, U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli made it clear at his daily press briefing on Wednesday that Washington at this point would continue with its hands-off policy on the matter. "The status of Kirkuk is...contınue

Croatian ambassador hosts national day reception

2006-06-24T20:00:00.000+02:00

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

Saturday, June 24, 2006
Croatian Ambassador to Turkey Gordan Bakota hosted a reception on Tuesday celebrating Croatian national day at the Ankara Hilton Hotel.
The ambassador personally greeted each guest at the door.
Among the guests were Air Forces intelligence chief Gen. Erol Özgil, Iraqi Turkmen Front's (ITC) Turkey representative Ahmet Muratlı and Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Ahmet Acet as well as the ambassadors of Iraq, Japan, Estonia, Bangladesh, China, Libya, Greece, Uzbekistan, Belgium, Belarus, France, the Czech Republic, Turkmenistan, Israel, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia, Albania, Sudan, Romania, Slovakia, Yemen, Germany, Spain, Canada, Palestine, Lebanon, Tunisia, South Africa, Macedonia, Algeria, Moldova, Argentina, Egypt and Brazil and a number of guests including military attachés.

ITF's suggestion of Turkmen Federation

2006-06-21T09:31:00.000+02:00

Yeniçağ 21.06.2006

Mr. Ahmet Muratlı who says that they are spending great efforts to prevent Kirkuk from falling into the hands of the peshmerge, revealed they had a “Turkmen Federation” proposal ready in their bags After articles were appended to the Iraqi Constitutional Law restricting the rights of the Turkmen, it is a matter of further concern for the Turkmen that efforts to increase the peshmerge population in Kirkuk in readiness for the referendum to be held next year is carried out with international support. The peshmerge who claim to consist of up to 17 percent of the population of Iraq demand a federation to pave the way for a Kurdish state.

We will not divide Iraq

Mr. Ahmet Muratlı, who says that the Turkmen might also request a federation, explained that they did not defend the unitary structure of Iraq and the ITF Chairman had a proposal for a “Turkmen Federation” in his bag. Although Mr.Muratlı claimed that the first steps to divide Iraq would not be taken by the Turkmen, he said, “the ITF would never cease to defend the freedoms and legal rights of Iraqi Turks”.

Mr.Muratlı explained that the activities carried out recently to target and kill the Turkmen in the Turkmeneli region had been victimized according to a specific plan and continued by saying “The target is to intimidate the Turkmen of Kirkuk and turn the Turkmen population into a minority group”.

The Peshmerge’s deceitful plan.

Mr. Muratlı explained the plans to decrease the Turkmen population until the referendum to be held in 2007 by saying: "Firstly the peshmerge who had been persuaded to migrate in accordance with article 58 will be resettled in their previous domains. According to official records this total does not exceed 11.000 persons. However, 350.000 persons have settled in Kirkuk. The region is being populated from other countries." Mr.Muratlı reminded that the subject of the boundaries of the region depicted in the Iraqi Constitutional Law as “Kurdistan Regional Administration” was debatable and within this scope not only Kirkuk, but Mosul as well would become a matter of dispute. Efforts are carried out to turn Kirkuk into TelafarITF Turkey Representative Ahmet Muratlı explained, “Attention must be paid to Kirkuk. In order to form a state in the north, there are plans to further decrease the Turkmen population in the region” and to this end policies to incept massacres and exile according to the example of Telafar will start in Kirkuk.

Acts of terror in Iraq are directed at the Turkmen and Kirkuk.

2006-06-20T11:57:00.000+02:00

kerkuk.net 19.06.2006

Necdet Ata Kerküklü
After the massacre of 20 Turkmen students in Karatepe district located between Kifri and Hanekin 100 km north of Baghdad on June 4th, more attacks were made in 5 different Turkmen regions in Kirkuk killing 13 and seriously wounding 41 people. Looking at the method and timing of the terrorism activities, it can be observed that these acts are spreading into the Turkmen region, starting from the south and climbing towards the north, especially targeting Kirkuk and Mosul. I fear that at this rate every city in Turkmeneli will be remembered for the atrocities committed there while the world merely stands by and observes.

read more of the article

Iraq gets 'coalition of the reluctant' as allies retreat

2006-06-20T11:53:00.000+02:00

By Guy Dinmore in Washington and David Pilling in Tokyo
Published: June 20 2006 03:00

Last updated: June 20 2006 03:00

The shrinking US "coalition of the willing" in Iraq has come to resemble more a coalition of the reluctant, as allies weigh up the costs of continued involvement in an unpopular war against the benefits of backing President George W. Bush for the rest of his second term.
Japan is expected to become the latest coalition member to announce a schedule for its withdrawal in a public statement today. Italy's new foreign minister, Massimo D'Alema, met Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, last week to discuss the Italian pullout by the end of the year, meaning in effect an end to operations by September.
Spain withdrew its 1,300 soldiers from Iraq in 2004 after a change of government. The Netherlands, Ukraine, Nicaragua, the Philippines and Honduras have also pulled out. Only several thousand foreign troops remain alongside some 130,000 US soldiers.
The UK yesterday confirmed that Iraqi security forces would take over responsibility for security in the southern Muthana province, where Japanese forces were based. British and Australian troops - who provided security for the Japanese as they carried out reconstruction projects - will be redeployed....continue

No change expected

2006-06-19T10:30:00.000+02:00

Iraqis are not fooled by the hype as the brutality of the occupation grinds on regardless of Zarqawi, writes Nermeen Al-Mufti from Baghdad

The death of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi has not alleviated tensions in Iraq. US and Iraqi troops still patrol main city roads as well as various highways. The roads linking Baghdad to Diali, the province in which Zarqawi was killed, and Al-Ramadi, a city still under attack, are being heavily patrolled. Al-Fallujah, Al-Ratba and Al-Qaem, all to the west of Baghdad, have been under siege for weeks. The only good news in the war-torn country is that the Shia militia in Basra have declared a cease-fire until the World Cup is over.
Iraqis have been in two minds about the death of Zarwaqi. Iraqi resistance brigades described him as a "brother" in Islam and jihad, but when a phone-in radio programme in Baghdad invited response from the public several callers voiced joy at the death of "the terrorist" while others voiced sympathy.
Reprisals were not long in coming. Fifty college students have been shot dead within a week. "Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers," the group once led by Zarqawi, is thought to be behind the killing. Among the dead were 20 Turkoman Shias and students whose clothes violated the dress code Al-Qaeda is trying to enforce. Iraqis may have grown used to their countrymen getting killed by booby-trapped cars and "friendly" US fire, but the killing of students was received with a mixture of shock and alarm.
Political analyst Raad Al-Hodeithi was not optimistic. "Zarqawi's death might give President Bush a chance to boost his fortunes ahead of the half-term elections in November, but it will not increase his popularity. The Americans started a wide-scale attack against Ramadi on 10 June, following a siege in which the city's roads to Baghdad and other towns were cut off. This suggests that the White House intends to destroy Iraq and undermine the political process."
President Jalal Al-Talabani has told the nation that an agreement between the government and the resistance was expected soon and that acts of violence would subside by the end of the year. But Abu Ali, who is close to the Islamic Army, is doubtful: "The factions that have opened dialogue with the Iraqi government are not the same ones resisting the occupation. These are factions that search for political posts and perhaps financial interests. The factions of the true resistance have not started and will not start a dialogue unless US forces declare a timetable for withdrawal. We said were weren't going to talk to the government, because we don't recognise it."
Abdel-Aziz Al-Hakim, leader of the Iraqi Alliance, has once again called for a federal system in the south and centre of the country. Speaking in Al-Najaf to a gathering of Shia parties, Al-Hakim pledged to "work through all means to achieve this objective and complete the journey we've started". The gathering was attended by members of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and Iraq's Hizbullah. Al-Sadr supporters didn't attend the meeting.
This was not the first time Al-Hakim has called for federalism. In a speech delivered in Al-Suleimaniya late last year, Al-Hakim proffered that, "Federalism is the right choice for the Kurdistan of Iraq. It is also the right choice in the centre and south of Iraq, as well as in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities."
It is noteworthy that a substantial proportion of Iraqis object to Kurdish-style federalism because they don't want to see a regional government having defence and foreign ministers and talking to foreign powers independently from the central government. Many Iraqis see such federalism as a first step towards the partition of Iraq.
As political uncertainty continued, the Association of Muslim Scholars said that various militia and unidentified death squads were still murdering Sunni individuals, including clerics. Meanwhile, the Islamic Party, which takes part in the current political process, expressed satisfaction that Prime Minister Nour Al-Maliki's government freed dozens of Iraqi detainees.
Concerning the political process, the Arab League has postponed a national dialogue conference slated earlier for 22 June without setting a new date for its convocation. Several Iraqi politicians had said that they wouldn't attend the conference if it were held in the Green Zone, calling for the gathering to be held outside the country for security reasons. Masoud Al-Barzani has called for the conference to be held in Arbil, a venue unacceptable to many.
As chaos and mayhem continued unabated, Friday preachers advised relatives of the dead not to claim their remains from the morgue. The reason: four individuals have been abducted and killed when they went to claim the body of a relative.

Iraq's Kirkuk rocked by bombings

2006-06-13T12:59:00.000+02:00

The wounded were rushed away for treatment following the attacksAt least 16 people have been killed and dozens wounded in a series of bomb attacks on police in Iraq's northern oil city of Kirkuk.
A police patrol was targeted in the first blast in the city centre at about 0730 (0330 GMT), leaving at least 10 dead, a police official said.
About half an hour later, a suspected suicide car bomber tried to ram the main police headquarters, killing five.
The offices of President Talabani's Kurdish party were also targeted.
In another attack, a district police chief was wounded and his bodyguard killed when two bombs went off outside his house.
Confusion surrounds the exact number of attacks. There are fears the death toll could rise.
The attacks may be part of the revenge promised by al-Qaeda in Iraq for the death of their leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in a US air strike last week, the BBC's Hugh Sykes in Baghdad says.
Ordinary guerrilla insurgents would not have the resources to organise such a co-ordinated attack, one experienced observer told the BBC.
Attack foiled
In the first attack, eight civilians and two policemen were killed when a bomb exploded in a parked car, Brig Gen Sarhat Qadir was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying. Another eight civilians and a police colonel were wounded.
In the second attack, a suicide car bomber attempted to ram into a checkpoint at the police headquarters. Police opened fire and the car exploded. Two policemen and three civilians were killed, Brig Gen Qadir said.
An attempted car bomb attack on the office of President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party was also foiled. Police opened fire on the car, causing it to explode.
Kirkuk, some 250km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, is home to a mix of Arab, Kurdish and Turkmen inhabitants, all of whom claim ownership of the city and the oil-rich territory around it.
The city has been spared some of the large bombings suffered by other Iraqi cities.
But it has been the scene of frequent attacks on police by insurgents waging war on US-led multinational forces and their Iraqi allies.

Turkey-Iraq discuss Kirkuk status

2006-06-12T12:09:00.000+02:00

15:28 - 09 June 2006

"Kirkuk should be given special status," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a meeting with Iraqi Deputy Premier Barham Salih. Erdogan put down Turkey's expectations over establishment of stability and security atmosphere in Iraq after formation of new government in that country and particularly reiterated Turkey's known views pertaining to status of Kirkuk. Erdogan also pointed to the risks in Iraq caused by ethnical structurings [as received], and noted that territorial integrity and unity of Iraq were very important for Turkey. Erdogan and Salih also discussed improvement of commercial relations between Turkey and Iraq as well as the problems in border passes. Salih in his part said Iraq's territorial integrity would definitely be protected, stating that, "Kirkuk is also the problem of Iraq. It will absolutely reach a fair solution." Erdogan also explained Turkey's uneasiness over the PKK issue. Salih in his part said, "PKK is a threat also for us. Turkey's security is our security. Necessary measures will be taken."

Turkish PM says Kirkuk should be given special status

2006-06-12T12:06:00.000+02:00

NTVMSNBC
ISTANBUL - Turkey’s Prime Minister has said the oil rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq should be given a special status, rather than come under the control just of local Iraqi Kurdish authorities. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan floated the suggestion during a meeting with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Behram Salih late on Thursday, at which he warned of the risks of establishing a sectarian state in Iraq. Erdogan stressed the importance Ankara gave to the territorial integrity of Iraq and its unity.

Gunmen Attack Bus Near Baghdad, At Least 19 Killed

2006-06-05T11:41:00.000+02:00

Raising the specter of further ethnic killings, the Associated Press reported that the gunmen dragged the students out of the bus. The A.P. put a higher death toll on the attack, saying that 19 of the dead were ethnic Turkmen and two were Kurds. Four Sunni Arabs were spared by the gunmen, it reported. full story

Swiss Canton Model Is Perfect for a Federated Iraq

2006-05-17T13:16:00.000+02:00

by John R. Thomson and
Hussain Hindawi
Posted May 17, 2006

Human Events Online this March, John Thomson reiterated the compelling case for a decentralized Iraq ["America in Iraq: These Colors Must Not Run"], which we had originally proposed in articles published in February and June 2004. We therefore welcome the recent publication by Sen. Joseph Biden (D.-Del.) and Leslie Gelb in the New York Times of their article, "Unity Through Autonomy in Iraq." Our only question to them and others is "Gentlemen, what took you so long?" ...read article

''Iraq's Impending Fracture to Produce Political Earthquake in Turkey''

2006-05-17T13:15:00.000+02:00

17 May 2006
nusual political stability in Turkey faces upheaval from Iraq's impending fracture along sectarian lines. The birth of an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq will end Turkey's E.U. accession hopes. The collapse of the accession process will strongly undermine the legitimacy of the ruling Justice and Development Party (A.K.P.), making it increasingly vulnerable to political attacks from Turkey's secular establishment. These attacks could prompt the disintegration of the Erdogan government as soon as the end of 2006. ....read article

Iraq sensitivity

2006-05-17T13:14:00.000+02:00

Yusuf KANLI
ARTICLE SUMMARYReports from Iraq are not in any way comforting for the Turks, who are very much worried about the possible disintegration of our neighboring country. Continued insurgency on the one hand, failure to forge a national unity government though five months have passed since elections, signs of growing tensions along religious lines, increased cross-border violence from outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists inside Turkey and the failure of Iraqi government troops and U.S. forces to take action against the PKK presence in northern Iraq remain serious irritants for the policy-makers in Ankara. Contrary to public disclosures, however, Ankara's attention is not focused solely on how to .....read article

Talabani slams Iran, Turkey interference

2006-05-17T13:13:00.000+02:00

BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 16 (UPI) -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani lashed out at neighbors Iran and Turkey for interfering in Iraq's domestic affairs, warning Baghdad could reciprocate.
Talabani was quoted as saying Tuesday in Saudi daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat that "Iraq is not a weak country. The neighbors can create problems for us and we also are capable of causing problems for them."
He said, "if Iran allows itself to interfere in Karbala because it is a Shiite city and Turkey feels it can interfere in Kirkuk, that will open the way for very dangerous consequences."
"In that case," he added, "Iraq will also have the right to interfere in Khozestan in Iran on the grounds that it has an Arab population and the same applies to Alexandrite in Turkey which has an Arab population."
Talabani stressed, however, that Iraq and Iran have had historic relations which were both positive and negative "but there is always room for agreement and also between Iraq and Turkey agreement is possible."
He acknowledged that the two countries have plausible reasons to interfere in Iraq since the Kurdistan Labor Party attacks Turkey from Iraq's Kurdish north; a Kurdish group in Iran has done the same, taking refuge in northern Iraq.
"Nevertheless, we need to find a solution in order to eliminate all the pretexts used by Iran and Turkey to hit Iraqi territories," he added.

U.S.-Iran dialogue

2006-05-17T12:52:00.000+02:00

By Tulin Daloglu
May 16, 2006
ANKARA, Turkey. -- Much speculation surrounds the letter Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent to President Bush. Could he be trying to prevent a pre-emptive strike against his country with pro-active diplomacy? "It really was a kind of philosophical and indeed religious attack on U.S. policies," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, brushing aside any suggestion that it could start a direct U.S.-Iran dialogue. But Iran's desire to engage speaks more loudly than the letter itself. read article

The U.S.A. is establishing peshmerge suburbs overnight in the areas vacated by our slain Turkmen brothers and those forcibly expelled from Telafar.

2006-05-16T22:03:00.000+02:00

Yeniçağ 16.05.2006

The U.S.A. is establishing peshmerge suburbs overnight in the areas vacated by our slain Turkmen brothers and those forcibly expelled from Telafar.The U.S.A. is killing our Turkmen brothers in Iraq and stroking the Kurds’ backs. There are claims that the Arabs in Telafar City which has been recently bombed by the U.S. military, are migrating to the southern part of Iraq, while the Kurds are establishing suburbs in Northern Iraq’s Kirkuk and Telafar cities overnight. ...read

ICG Urges US to Take Active Role in Kirkuk Issues

2006-05-15T13:01:00.000+02:00

Posted GMT 5-11-2006 15:17:17

Ankara -- A leading Brussels-based think tank urged the U.S. yesterday to immediately take active measures to prevent the city of Kirkuk, Iraq from potentially escalating into ethnic clashes, reported news channel NTV.
Joost Hiltermann, the Middle East project director from the International Crisis Group (ICG), said in an address at the Middle East Institute in Washington that Iraqi Kurds are determined to include the oil-rich city under the authority of the Kurdish regional government. He added that these efforts will receive a harsh response from both Arabs and Turkmens.
"The U.S. should stop leaving this issue to Iraqis. This is a mistaken policy," stressed Hiltermann. Recalling next year's planned referendum on the future status of Kirkuk, and mentioning his fears of a possible increase in tension in the near future as Kurdish groups change the demography of the city, Hiltermann suggested that Washington should become actively involved with the issue rather than leaving it for the Iraqis to deal with. The ICG expert also criticized the U.S. for sending mainly Kurdish security officials to Turkmen-dominated cities like Tal Afar.
During his speech, Hiltermann also said that the strong Turkish military and the Turkish government have differing views about relations with Iraqi Kurds. He said that the military looks upon the Iraqi Kurdish political groups more harshly than ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, which has been in favor of developing economic links and investments in northern Iraq.

Barzani’s speech: Discrepancy between words and reality

2006-05-15T12:48:00.000+02:00

Saturday, May 13, 2006
KurdishMedia.com - By Shakhawan Shorash

.....Barzini underlines the importance of freedom of speech and individual freedom, but neither exists in Kurdistan. All is controlled by the ruling party and everyone has to do what the ruling party appreciates. This has been the daily reality for the past 14 years. If journalists and writers criticize a negative phenomenon, they have to respect the party’s unwritten limits and censorship. No direct criticisms toward the party leaders are tolerated. Even indirect or general critics risk punishment, besides encountering sanctions and ill treatment in different ways. Consequently those who prize the party and its historical “victories” are increasing in number, while realistic and honest people are decreasing in number. .... read

Patronage roils Iraqi unity

2006-05-15T12:35:00.000+02:00

By Dan Murphy Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor BAGHDAD – Five months after Iraq's last election, the effort to create a national unity government to reconcile warring factions by sharing cabinet posts among Kurds and Shiite and Sunni Arabs is foundering. The latest impediment is squabbling among the dominant Shiites parties.
The country's new Shiite prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, was expected to unveil his cabinet Sunday. Instead, a member of the Shiite Islamist United Iraqi Alliance confirmed it was pulling out of the government, angry at the way seats are being distributed.

Three Iraqs Would Be One Big Problem

2006-05-09T12:29:00.000+02:00

By ANTHONY H. CORDESMAN
Published: May 9, 2006
Washington
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Readers’ Opinions
Forum: The Transition in Iraq

SOME pundits and politicians have been floating the idea that America consider dividing Iraq into three ethno-religious entities, saying this would not only stem the insurgency but also allow our troops an earlier exit. They are wrong: fracturing the country would not serve either Iraqi or United States interests, and would make life for average Iraqis even worse.
The first problem is that Iraq does not have a neat set of ethnic dividing lines. There has never been a meaningful census of Iraq showing exactly how its Arab Sunnis, Arab Shiites, Kurds and other factions are divided or where they live. The two elections held since the toppling of Saddam Hussein have made it clear, however, that Iraq's cities and 18 governorates all have significant minorities.
Thus any effort to divide the country along sectarian and ethnic lines would require widespread "relocations." This would probably be violent and impoverish those forced to move, leave a legacy of fear and hatred, and further delay Iraq's political and economic recovery.
Moreover, Iraq is heavily urbanized, with nearly 40 percent of the population in the multiethnic greater Baghdad and Mosul areas. We have seen in Northern Ireland and the Balkans how difficult it is to split cities, and with Iraq's centralized and failing services and impoverished economy, violence and economics cannot be separated. Deciding where Kirkuk, a key oil city, belonged would pit the Kurds against all the rest of Iraq's factions. Basra, the nation's port, is already under the sway of Shiite Islamist militias and could lose all of its secular character if the nation divided. In addition, the nation could not be partitioned without dividing the army, the security forces and the police. The regular military is largely Shiite with a significant number of Kurds. The Ministry of Interior forces are largely Shiite, and the police are hopelessly mixed with militias and local security forces that split according to local tribal, sectarian and ethnic ties. Dividing the country essentially means dividing the army and security forces and strengthening the militias — all of which would lead to more violence.
And of course, there is no way to divide Iraqi that will not set off fights over control of oil. More than 90 percent of Iraq's government revenues come from oil exports. The Sunni Arab west has no developed oil fields and thus would have no oil revenues. The Kurds want the northern oil fields, but have no legitimate claim to them and no real way to export the oil they produce (their neighbors Iran, Syria and Turkey have restive Kurdish populations of their own and thus no interest in helping Iraq's Kurds achieve self-sustaining freedom). Control of Basra would also be an issue, with various Shiite groups looking to separate and take control of the oil in the south.
Dividing Iraq would also harm regional stability and the war on terrorists. Sunni Islamist extremist groups with ties to Al Qaeda already dominate the Sunni insurgents, and division would only increase their hold over average Iraqis. And with Iraqi Sunnis cut out of oil money, Arab Sunni states like Egypt and Saudi Arabia would be forced to support them, if only to avoid having the Islamist extremists take over this part of Iraq.
Iran, of course, would compete for the Iraqi Shiites. The Kurds have no friends: Turkey, Iran and Syria would seek to destabilize the north and exploit the divisions between the two main Kurdish political unions. In the end, these divisions could spill over into the rest of the Middle East and the Arab world, creating a risk of local conflicts and the kind of religious tension that feeds Islamist extremism.
Washington has made serious mistakes in Iraq, and they may lead to civil war. Dividing Iraq, however, is virtually certain to make things worse. It would convey the message that America has been defeated and abandoned a nation and a people. Even if one could overlook the fact the United States effectively broke Iraq and has a responsibility to its 28 million people, it is impossible to deny that leaving behind a power vacuum in an already dangerous region is hardly a viable strategy.
Anthony H. Cordesman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, is the author of "The Iraq War: Strategy, Tactics and Military Lessons."
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Turkmen Painter; Choice, Hope, and Beauty

2006-05-08T10:56:00.000+02:00

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Election Results Fail To Reflect The Realities, Ergec

2006-05-04T20:24:00.000+02:00

ANKARA -

''Elections results in Iraq fail to reflect the realities. A large Kurdish population was transferred to Kirkuk, which is an oil-rich city,'' Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) Chairman Sadettin Ergec who is visiting Turkey reaffirmed on Thursday.
In an exclusive interview with the A.A. correspondent, Ergec said they arrived in Turkey to get ''moral support''.
Stating that Turkmens were living under tough conditions, Ergec said ''countries neighboring Iraq have an important role to resolve the problems of Iraq since problems may spread to those countries''.
Ergec defended that relations (between Turkmens in Iraq and Turks) recessed after the rejection (by Turkish parliament) of the motion (allowing US troops to enter northern Iraq through Turkish territory --on the eve of Iraq war). -ELECTION RESULTS-
''I think it will be wrong to make assessments based on the results of recent elections since they fail to reflect the facts. On the other hand we expect Turkey to assume a more active role in the future,'' he noted.
Pertaining to the situation in Kirkuk, Ergec reaffirmed a very large Kurdish population was transferred to Kirkuk after 2003 to influence the results of the referendum scheduled by the end of 2007.
''The region is already in a state of excitement. Because of this, we demanded all the Iraqis and not only those living in the Kirkuk province must take part in the referendum,'' Ergec added.

The US betrays the Kurds again: American-Turkish rapprochement over the Iranian crisis

2006-05-04T14:27:00.000+02:00

RAGNUM

The growing tensions over Iran are beginning to have an immediate impact on the foreign political stance of Turkey. On the one hand, the US is very much interested in involving Turkey in its anti-Iranian coalition, and on the other, Turkey is very much interested in using this opportunity for strengthening its foreign political positions. And so, they are beginning a big haggle.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has got into the spotlight by her visits to Greece, Turkey and Iraq on her way to Sofia for the April 28-29 informal NATO FM summit. Turkish media called Rice’s visit “a new page in the history of bilateral relations.” Turkish officials said it was very fruitful. In fact, Rice’s 16-hour visit was a good chance for Turkey to further improve its cooperation with the US, particularly, over Iran and the Kurdish rebels.
When in March 2003 the Turkish parliament refused to provide US troops a land corridor for attacking Iraq from the north, the Americans grew cold towards Turkey. They put all blame on Turkish generals and said that, henceforth, they would cooperate with politicians, namely, with the Party of Justice and Development (PJD), an Islamist force that has been in power since 2002. This was in line with the US’ Big Middle East project, where Turkey was supposed to assume leadership as an 'Islamic moderate'.
But the crisis over Iran has made Turkey’s generals relevant again. Since December 2005 the US military officials have been frequent guests in Turkey, and the Turkish generals have gradually restored their status in the country’s internal politics. Even though PJD will be the only ruling party in Turkey, at least, till the autumn 2007 parliamentary elections, and the acting Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has excellent chances to win the spring 2007 presidential race, the Bush administration is improving its relations exactly with the Turkish military.
In March 2006 Chairman of the US Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace visited Turkey and met with Chief of Turkey’s General Staff, General Hilmi Ozkok and Prime Minister Recep Erdogan. The sides discussed the problems of Iran, PKK, the internal political situation in Iraq, the visit of a HAMAS delegation to Ankara.
This was exactly the agenda of Rice’s meetings with the Turkish top officials. Rice met with President Ahmed Necet Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. The sides agreed to draft a Common Strategic Vision. In Ankara Rice said that Turkey is the US’ key partner. The brief few-page Common Strategic Vision will consist of three main chapters: (1) fight with terrorism, (2) relations with the EU, (3) Big Middle East project and addenda concerning Cyprus, PKK, Iran, Iraq, the Middle East peace process and relations with Russia. To date, the US has a similar document only with India.
The Turkish public had been well prepared for Rice’s visit. On the eve of the visit, all Turkish media reported that during the last few years the US has been providing the Turkish armed forces with information support, particularly, through the Echelon global surveillance system. Even though most of this information was about PKK (it was this very source that enabled the Turkish armed forces to hold a series of successful operations in Turkey’s south-eastern regions in March-April), Rice did not give a specific yes to Turkey’s request to stifle PKK’s positions in Northern Iraq or to let it do it itself. At the same time, she hinted that the US may close its eyes on this, i.e. on a forthcoming Turkish military operation in Northern Iraq. It’s noteworthy that Turkey launched this operation while Rice was still in its territory. So, we can say that the US has, in fact, given a sanction to it.
One more interesting point of fact is that before coming to Ankara Rice had signaled that she supports Turkey’s position on Cyprus, thereby, creating a favourable climate for her talks in Ankara. Particularly, in Athens she said that Turkey is already a European country and that the Republic of Cyprus should do its best to make Turkey’s EU membership a reality. Ankara made a reciprocal gesture: it turned down Iran’s request for National Security Secretary Ali Larijani’s visit to Turkey. The Turks advised Larijani to put off his visit for early May, i.e. after Rice’s visit. They may well act as a go-between at the talks with Larijani by telling him what the US has said. This is quite typical of Ankara: to get most of the tensions between two allies and to act as a negotiator between them.
Yet one more interesting point of fact is that Turkey had launched its all-time big anti-Kurdish military campaign exactly by the time of Rice’s Ankara visit. Fearing Europe’s anger, Turkey had, thereby, tried to “legitimize” its action. Turkey’s goal is to curb the activity of Kurds in its south-eastern regions, to provoke them into counter-action and, with US acquiescence, to track the fighters down to Northern Iraq and to put an end to them there. This is, in fact, a repetition of campaigns it used to hold in Saddam times.
The events of the last week have confirmed this conclusion. Turkey was holding its military campaign while Rice was talking with Turkish leaders in Ankara and had crossed the Iraqi border when Rice was still in the Turkish capital. During the night of Apr 26-27, after being informed that fighters from the PKK training camps in Khaftanin and Metina (Northern Iraq) were planning to infiltrate into the Turkish territory, the Turkish army launched a preventive attack, threw back the enemy and pursued it into the Northern Iraqi territory. Armed with night vision cameras, the Turkish soldiers liquidated the covers of the Kurds.
The chief of Turkey’s general staff, Gen. Hilmi Ozkok refused to answer any questions. Instead, Ms Rice “calmed down” the Iraqi authorities by saying that Turkey was not going to cause damage to Iraq but was only trying to destroy PKK bases. US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said the same. This means that when in Ankara Rice gave her consent to Turkey’s operation in Northern Iraq. We can’t yet give all the reasons of this consent but, undoubtedly, it was the result of 'horse trading' .
The next day Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul confirmed that Turkish troops had violated the Turkish-Iraqi border but said that the Iraqi authorities' protests were uncalled for (the note of protest handed by Iraqi Ambassador to Turkey Umran Sabah) as “the destruction of PKK fighters in the territory of Northern Iraq is good for Baghdad too.” “For as long as Iraq is unable to guard its own borders, we’ll do it ourselves,” Gul said. This statement shows how confident Turkey is in this matter. It undertakes to 'protect' the border of a neighbor country without its consent and, in the meantime occupies, part of its territory. Obviously, Washington has not only agreed to but also guaranteed Turkey’s actions.
In his turn, the leader of the Iraqi Democratic Party of Kurdistan Masud Barzani attempted to refute the fact of the Turkish invasion into Iraq. This shows that, sacrificed by the US once again, the leaders of Iraqi Kurdistan are trying to save their faces. Meanwhile, the Turkish troops are reported to have gained control over 20-km area in Northern Iraq and to be holding a large-scale operation to destroy PKK fighters. They have already destroyed the Zap training camp near Ahmediye – 30 km deep into Iraq. During the operations Turkish planes heavily bombed the PKK bases. Availing itself of the opportunity, Turkey’s general staff has hurried to deploy a 110,000-strong corps on the border with Iran and to say that this border is fully controlled. This may be part of Turkey’s preparations for the anti-Iranian campaign.
Summing up the results of Rice’s visit to Ankara, we can say that the US is pressing hard on Turkey so as to prevent the recurrence of the Mar 2003 events, but, at the same time, it is catering for some of Ankara’s major interests. According to confidential information, Rice has demanded a straightforward answer from Turkey – “who is it with: with the US or Iran?” The Turkish officials are pretending they have given no specific promises to Washington yet and will act in line with the UN Security Council’s resolution. But there are facts that prove that during its secret talks with the DS and Pentagon and earlier this year with Tel Aviv, Turkey showed that it might well join the US and Israel.
Turkey’s key argument is the fear of its generals that a nuclear bomb in the hands of Iran may break the balance of forces between Ankara and Tehran. Turkish military analysts say that the decades-long peace between Turkey and Iran is fragile and is based on the parity of their armed forces. At the same time, the political rulers of Turkey, namely, the pro-Islamist PJD, fear that strong Iran may be a strong enemy in the struggle for sway in the Muslim world and want to weaken it.
But given the growing anti-American moods and upcoming elections in the country, PJD would still like to get the UN SC’s sanctions for the military campaign against Iran: PJD is careful in its policies and is not going to say yes to whatever the US wants. Meanwhile, Turkey’s General Staff, on the contrary, hopes that joint actions with the US will help it to strengthen its position in own country and to curb the further rise of Islamism there, particularly, to prevent PJD leader Erdogan from becoming president.
This is proved by the following circumstances: (1) a number of scandalous differences between PJD and US officials, particularly, the premier’s advisor Zapsu’s appeal to Washington not to give up PJD and Erdogan; and (2) the frequent visits of US representatives to Turkey. So, we can assume that Rice’s promise of a new strategic partnership treaty soon may well come from an agreement between Pentagon and Turkey’s General Staff. And so, we can accept the view of Turkish analysts about “a new stage” in Turkish-American relations with one proviso: just like several years ago, the US and Turkey will build their relations on the basis of military cooperation. Ankara has two problems the US can help it to solve: Cyprus and PKK. Rice’s Athens statement that Cyprus should do its best for Turkey to become an EU member, the entry of Turkish troops in Northern Iraq (something Ankara has been demanding for three years already) and the US’ connivance in the matter show that Ankara and Washington have, in principle, agreed on their cooperation over several important directions, including over Iran.
The approval of Turkey’s entry into Iraq may also imply that the sides have agreed on Kirkuk. Particularly, the Turkish prime minister and foreign minister told Rice that this town is very important in both internal political and regional terms and one can’t leave it under the control of one ethnic group. By “ethnic group” they obviously meant the Kurds.
There is a strong possibility that Washington is playing a situational game with several players at once. Getting strong support in Iraq in 2003, the US realized once again how important it is to cooperate with the Kurdish Peshmarga. But, obviously, Washington is not hurrying to give the Kurds official independence so as to have something to offer the next time the Kurds may become useful. In case of a campaign in Iran, the US will need not only Turkey, but also Kurds: who will help it to keep up stability in Iraq and to break stability in Iran through local Kurds. There is a strong possibility that Kurds may be used by Iran. And so, by letting Turkey into Northern Iraq, i.e. Kurdistan, Washington has, on the one hand, dealt a card to Ankara but, on the other, secured a card for itself – for promising at later meetings with Kurds that it will urge Turkey to withdraw from Kurdistan if they promise to cooperate over Iran. Ankara perfectly knows that the US’ approval of its campaign in Northern Iraq does not yet mean approval of its deployment in that territory.
So, obviously, in the next 10-15 years the US’ foreign policy will be focused on Middle East, Caspian Basin, Caucasus, Central Asia, South-Eastern Asia. Apparently, the US still needs Turkey as a military and political partner. Besides, Turkey is still the only partner of Israel despite the recent tensions over the PJD’s Islamist policies.
Turkey also needs the US. If Iran gets stronger, and the balance of forces in the region is changed, Turkey will find it hard to keep its positions alone. Turkey is obviously conceding in its relations with the US so as not to face Islamism tête-à-tête. Today it wants Washington just to curb Iran but not to war with it. If a war starts Turkey will find it hard to avoid being involved. But for the time being, it is just trying to capitalize on the regional crisis.
At its regular monthly conference on April 27, Turkey’s National Security Council focused on Turkey’s military campaign against PKK, Rice’s contacts in Ankara and the new government and nuclear program crises in Iraq and Iran, respectively. Particularly discussed was the strategy of Turkish military operations on the other side of the border. It’s noteworthy that after the 5.5-hour conference the Turkish premier had a tête-à-tête meeting with Transport Minister Yildirim, who had just come back from Iran. The council also discussed internal political problems, particularly, the strengthening of the Islamist policy.
Naturally, for us the dynamics of Turkish-American relations are interesting mostly in terms of Turkey’s relations with Russia and its role in the Caucasus. Having decisive rapprochement plans with Turkey, the US, at the same time, demands that Ankara stop its big plans with Moscow. Particularly, when in Ankara, Rice demanded that Gazprom be removed from the 600 mln EUR project to connect the gas networks of Turkey and Greece. She had earlier demanded the same in Athens. Some sources say that Rice proposed replacing the Russian gas by the Azeri one to be imported to Turkey via the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline. This demand has upset Turkey’s plans to become a mediator between Russia and Europe and to, thereby, show its importance for the EU. But Turkey’s tighter relations with the US may lead to its stronger positions in the Caucasus, particularly, in the South Caucasus.
So, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipelines, to be launched in 2007, will link Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey even tighter. In Ankara the US and Turkey might also discuss the building of a railroad Kars (Turkey)-Tbilisi-Baku, particularly, the possibility of US support in the project. If we add to this the talk that Turkey may be allowed to have a greater say over the South Caucasus, we may well assume that very soon the Russian military bases in Georgia will be replaced by Turkish troops under the NATO aegis. Then, by forcing Georgia to populate the Turkish-Georgian borderline regions with ethnic Turks (Meskhetins), the EU and the US will chain it up to the West, with Ankara gaining bigger influence over Tbilisi’s policy.
Ankara has repeatedly said that it is ready to become a mediator in the Karabakh peace process. This would give Turkey the authority of big regional power. Despite Armenia’s resistance, the US may well involve Turkey in the process, though, initially, just as an observer. In summary, we should note that the unpredictability of the developments over Iran and the further deepening of Turkish-American relations are very negative factors for Russia’s positions in the South Caucasus.

Sen. Biden: Iraq Should be Divided into 3 Regions

2006-05-02T11:06:00.000+02:00

01/05/2006
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Iraq should be divided into three largely autonomous regions -- Kurd, Sunni Arab and Shiite Arab -- with a weaker central government in Baghdad, Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record) said on Monday.
In an op-ed article in The New York Times, Biden, the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee's top Democrat, said the Bush administration's effort to establish a strong central government in Baghdad had been a failure, doomed by ethnic rivalry that had spawned widespread sectarian violence.
"It is increasingly clear that President Bush does not have a strategy for victory in Iraq. Rather, he hopes to prevent defeat and pass the problem along to his successor," said Biden and co-author Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Iraq's Sunnis, the driving force behind the insurgency, would welcome the partition plan rather than be dominated by a Shiite-controlled central government, Biden said.
He said the division of Iraq would follow the example of Bosnia a decade ago when that war-torn country was partitioned into ethnic federations under the U.S.-brokered Dayton Accords.
Biden billed his plan as a "third option" beyond the "false choice" of continuing the Bush administration policy of nurturing a unity government in Iraq or withdrawing U.S. troops immediately.
As part of the plan, the United States should withdraw most of its troops from Iraq by 2008, except for a small force to combat terrorism, Biden said.
Under Biden's proposal, the Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite regions would each be responsible for their own domestic laws, administration and internal security. The central

Rice, in Greece and Turkey, Holds Talks on Iraq and Iran

2006-04-26T10:23:00.000+02:00

NY TIMES
By STEVEN R. WEISMAN
Published: April 26, 2006
ANKARA, Turkey, April 25 — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice assured Turkish leaders on Tuesday that the United States would step up efforts to stop Kurdish insurgents in Iraq from infiltrating into Turkey, but she cautioned the government not to send troops to Iraq to do the job.....read more

Shiite Militias Move Into Oil-Rich Kirkuk, Even as Kurds Dig In

2006-04-25T11:04:00.000+02:00

Control of Iraqi City Has Long Been in Dispute
By Jonathan FinerWashington Post Foreign ServiceTuesday, April 25, 2006; Page A16

KIRKUK, Iraq -- Hundreds of Shiite Muslim militiamen have deployed in recent weeks to this restive city -- widely considered the most likely flash point for an Iraqi civil war -- vowing to fight any attempt to shift control over Kirkuk to the Kurdish-governed north, according to U.S. commanders and diplomats, local police and politicians.
Until recently, the presence of the militias here was minimal. U.S. officials have called the Shiite armed groups the deadliest threat to security in much of the country. They have been blamed for hundreds of killings during mounting sectarian violence in central and southern Iraq since the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in February.......continue

Assassination On Turkmen Politician in Kerkuk

2006-04-23T10:14:00.000+02:00

A Turkmen Politician killed by Kurdish terrorists in Kerkuk.

Sabah Ketene, a memeber of the Turkmen Council and former president Iraq Turkmen Front was killed by three Kurdish militia members by machine gun shot from a black car right front of Ketene's house in Kerkuk at 11:00 am in April 22 2006.

END SECTARIAN VIOLENCE

2006-04-20T21:22:00.000+02:00

By Tulin Daloglu
April 18, 2006

Four months after holding its historic national elections, Iraq still has failed to form a government. The parliamentary session that was supposed to be held yesterday has been postponed to a later date. The problem appears to be Prime Minister Ibrahim al Jaafari, but in fact it runs deeper. "Not standing up the government fuels the sectarian violence," said Ambassador Jim Jeffrey, senior adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Iraq. Mr. Jeffrey says the United States has not "put the torch to sectarian violence." He is right -- but not completely...... continue

ITF visits Turkish Polititians

2006-04-20T11:36:00.000+02:00

Visit to MHP (Nationalist Action Party)
kerkuk.net 19.04.2006
Iraq Turkoman Front Turkish Representative Ahmet Muratlı visited Mr. Devlet Bahçeli, the Chairman of Milli Hareket Partisi (MHP) in his offices at the party headquarters to invite him to the reception to be held at the Ankara Hilton Hotel to celebrate the 11th Founding Anniversary of ITF.
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Visit to DSP (Democratic Left Party)
kerkuk.net 19.04.2006
Iraq Turkoman Front Turkey Representative Ahmet Muratlı visited Demokratik Sol Parti (DSP) Chairman Zeki Sezer in his offices at the party headquarters to extend him an invitation to the reception to be held at the Ankara Hilton Hotel on the 24th of April to celebrate the 11th Founding Anniversary of the ITF.
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Visit to Hür Parti (Freedom and Change Party)
kerkuk.net 19.04.2006
Iraq Turkoman Front Turkey Representative Ahmet Muratlı visited Hürriyet ve Değişim Partisi (HÜR PARTİ) Chairman Yaşar Okuyan in his offices at the party headquarters to extend him an invitation to the reception to be held at the Ankara Hilton Hotel on the 24th of April to celebrate the 11th Founding Anniversary of the ITF.
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Visit to SHP (Socialdemocratic People’s Party)
kerkuk.net 19.04.2006
Iraq Turkoman Front Turkey Representative Ahmet Muratlı visited Sosyaldemokrat Halk Partisi (SHP) Chairman Murat Karayalçın in his offices at the party headquarters to extend him an invitation to the reception to be held at the Ankara Hilton Hotel on the 24th of April to celebrate the 11th Founding Anniversary of the ITF.

Blame flies over Iraqi leadership stalemate

2006-04-19T09:57:00.000+02:00

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi politicians in the past few days have begun using uncommonly bitter language to blame one another for the impasse over a new government, a development that suggests that stalemated talks are nowhere near success....continue

Why Iraq Was a Mistake

2006-04-15T11:55:00.000+02:00

A military insider sounds off against the war and the "zealots" who pushed it

By LIEUT. GENERAL GREG NEWBOLD (RET.)

Two senior military officers are known to have challenged Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the planning of the Iraq war. Army General Eric Shinseki publicly dissented and found himself marginalized. Marine Lieut. General Greg Newbold, the Pentagon's top operations officer, voiced his objections internally and then retired, in part out of opposition to the war. Here, for the first time, Newbold goes public with a full-throated critique: ..... 1 2 3 Next >>

No civil war, no prime minister

2006-04-15T11:51:00.000+02:00

A decision over the Iraqi prime minister position continues to impede the creation of a government three months after elections

Al-Ahram

As opposition within certain currents continued to grow over Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari being named to remain in office, more Iraqi forces have joined the chorus this week against Al-Jaafari's nomination. While Iraqi politicians continue to be deadlocked over the issue, sectarian violence with reprisal attacks against both Sunni and Shia continued unabated.
The Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF) -- the biggest Sunni bloc in the assembly -- have clearly now stated that its final decision is not to back Al-Jaafari's nomination. Dhafer Al-Ani, spokesperson for the IAF, reaffirmed Sunday the front's stand against Al-Jaafari. Al-Ani said the front suggested to the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) -- the biggest Shia bloc in the assembly -- to propose other names for consideration. On Monday, the IAF forwarded a letter to Abdul-Aziz Al-Hakim, head of the UIA, notifying him that "they still have reservations about Al-Jaafari."
Similar statements were made by Kurdish officials who openly criticised Al-Jaafari's political performance, demanding that a new candidate be named by the UIA. Under the Iraqi constitution, the prime minister has to be a member of the bloc that holds the majority of seats in parliament. But there should also be a political consensus on the candidate from other forces sharing power.
The firm Sunni-Kurdish stand against Al-Jaafari prompted the UIA to enter a fresh round of internal talks to resolve the deadlock which has been the main stumbling block barring the formation of a national unity government months after parliamentary elections were held.
On Tuesday, the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported that a breakthrough had taken place when the young Shia leader Muqtada Al-Sadr, a staunch proponent of keeping Al-Jaafari, showed signs of backtracking on his support for Al-Jaafari. But there are differences of opinion over alternative names. The Sadrists stated clearly that they do not accept the nomination of Adel Abdul-Mahdi, whose name was put forward by the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), one of the Shia forces under the umbrella of UIA. Karim Al-Bekhati, spokesperson of the Sadrist movement, said the movement backs the nomination of Jawad Al-Maliki, who is considered to be Al-Jaafari's right-hand man in Al-Daawa Party. Other names put forward included National Security Adviser Muwafaq Al-Rubei, Ali Al-Adeeb and Abdul-Karim Al-Enzy also from Al-Daawa.
The breakthrough instigated by the Sadrists came only one day after a meeting was held Sunday of the seven factions comprising the UIA. On Monday, another meeting brought together a panel comprised of Jawad Al-Maliki, Humam Hammodi from SCIRI and Hussein Al-Shahrastani to discuss the issue with Kurdish and Sunni blocs. Monday's meeting, nonetheless, failed to produce a resolution to the issue.
Both Sunnis and Kurdish blocs hold Al-Jaafari responsible for the sectarian tension that is driving the country to the brink of civil war. The crisis reached its peak with the bombing of the Samaraa shrine, which some press reports published in Arab media suggested could have been prevented by Al-Jaafari's government. The reports accused members of Al-Jaafari's government -- particularly in Interior Ministry circles -- of having prior knowledge of the bombing and yet doing nothing to prevent it. A wave of reprisal attacks targeting both Sunni and Shia citizens and religious sites indicated to many that Iraq was segueing into a silent civil war.
Attacks continued unabated this week. On Friday a triple suicide bomb targeting Buratha Mosque in Baghdad left at least 90 dead and 160 injured. It was the first time, nonetheless, that Interior Ministry officials warned of possible attacks on mosques on Friday. Officials said they received intelligence that insurgents were preparing to detonate bombs around the capital. Some Iraqis accuse the Interior Ministry of being complacent in the face of attacks. Others point a figure at occupation authorities, which they believe are responsible for most of the attacks targeting Shia mosques.
During his Friday sermon, Moqtada Al-Sadr accused US troops of being behind the attack in Najaf that claimed the lives of 10 Iraqis last Thursday. "This is not the first time the occupation forces and their death squads have resorted to killings," Al-Sadr was quoted as saying. During the week marking the fall of Baghdad on 9 April 2003, violence continued. On Saturday, a car bomb in Musayib south of Baghdad left at least six people dead -- most of them Shia pilgrims.
Despite escalating sectarian tension, Iraqi politicians continued to firmly deny that the country was gripped by civil war. A statement by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to Al-Arabiya television Sunday, in which he said civil war "almost started in Iraq", angered many Iraqi politicians. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Mubarak's comments were not accurate. "It is true that there are some kind of clashes among Sunnis and Shias. But it is not civil war," he told reporters.

What is Iran’s Man in Iraq After?

2006-04-13T16:10:00.000+02:00

In an exclusive interview, Tehran’s Hassan Kazemi Ghomi takes on Washington and counters U.S. claims that he and his country are subverting the Baghdad government.

Wednesday, Apr. 12, 2006

What is Tehran’s main man in Iraq up to? The U.S. military, which claims Iranian special forces and intelligence operatives have infiltrated Iraq, insinuates that Hassan Kazemi Ghomi, the charge d’affaires of the Iranian embassy, is intent on undermining Washington's mission in Baghdad. Indeed, U.S. military intelligence and the American-backed Iraqi National Intelligence Service told TIME that Ghomi is a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force, a special forces outfit much like the Green Berets, with specialized skills in working with local forces and militias.

Saudi Arabia must act to contain Iraq strife - study

2006-04-11T22:55:00.000+02:00

11/04/2006
RIYADH, (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia should try to avert Iraq's fragmentation by lobbying against any premature withdrawal of U.S. forces and by pressing Iran to stop meddling, a report by a security adviser to the Saudi government says.
"A civil war may well be inevitable. Such a development would have the gravest implications for the entire region, especially Saudi Arabia, which shares its longest international borders with Iraq," Nawaf Obaid said in his report on how Saudi Arabia should respond to the situation in Iraq.
The report, released by the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, was based on dozens of interviews with military and intelligence officials in the region, and numerous conversations with Iranian officials, Obaid said.......

Analysis: The many faces of Iraq's war

2006-04-08T10:24:00.000+02:00

By Martin Sieff
UPI Senior News Analyst
Published April 7, 2006
......... And in the north, largely overlooked, the Kurds supported and protected by U.S. power, have been forcibly exerted their own control over resentful Assyrian and Turkoman minority communities. The Kurd-Turkoman conflict, almost totally ignored in the U.S. media, is particularly significant because Turkey, a key U.S. ally and NATO member and traditionally hostile to Kurdish independence, feels strong ethnic loyalty to the Turkomans from the days of the old Ottoman Empire. As Chaim Kaufmann wrote in the New York Jewish newspaper the Forward Friday, "Not one but two full-scale communal conflicts are raging in Iraq. In the north of the country, the Kurds are fighting several other communities for the oil-rich Kirkuk Province. Further south, Sunnis and Shiites are struggling for control of a roughly 100-mile-deep band of mixed settlement that runs across central Iraq, including Baghdad." ............

other analyses:

War in Iraq is a Continuation of the Past

2006-04-03T22:42:00.000+02:00

by Tugrul Keskin
In his article, "The Last Exit From Iraq," Joel Rayburn argues that the US is not the first country who occupied Iraq and suggests that the US should take a lesson from the British experience. In the context of his analogy, unfortunately it is accurate information; however, he forgets to include a historical analysis of British colonialism at the beginning of this century and its relationship with the American occupation of Iraq. The American occupation of Iraq is a continuation of British colonialism and today is a reflection of the past. Iraq is an artificial state; it has an artificial national identity based on territoriality, as established under British imperialism. However, if we look at the other countries in the region, most of these countries are not different than Iraq. There is no difference between Iraq and Syria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon. The differences between these countries are very similar to differences between Georgia and South Carolina or New York and Washington DC. ....

Shias call on al-Jaafari to quit

2006-04-01T19:35:00.000+02:00

Senior members of Iraq's ruling Shia Alliance bloc have for the first time openly called on Ibrahim al-Jaafari to step down as prime minister to break months of deadlock over the formation of a national unity government.

Al-Jaafari warns of US interference

2006-04-01T19:26:00.000+02:00

Friday 31 March 2006, 2:49 Makka Time, 23:49 GMT
Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the Iraqi prime minister, has warned against US interference in his country's politics and defended his ties to a Shia militia.

Report To Ministry Of Foreign Affairs

2006-04-01T17:04:00.001+02:00

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 number’s are more realistically between 2.5 to 3 million, i.e. 12% of the Iraqi population.
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 Mandeli 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.
After the liberation of Iraq, the Turkmen had high expectations of the interim administration established after April 9, 2003. The Turkmen expected to see democracy, fairness, and 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. However, the Iraqi Turkmen should not be seen as a danger to Iraqi sovereignty but as an asset to strengthen Iraqi stability and as a part of the big mosaic of Iraqi unity.
In order to have democracy, stability and tranquillity in Iraq. The Iraqi government must guarantee human rights for all citizens, regardless of ethnicity and reach agreement about these issues with representatives of Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs. Presently 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 Iraqi Kurds are attempting by various methods to eliminate Turkmen identity especially from Kerkuk City in order to dilute them into Kurdish society.
Kerkuk holds strategic as well as symbolic value; 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 Kurds hope to make the city and its vast oil reserves part of an autonomous Kurdistan whereas both the Turkmen and Arabs are fiercely opposing the inclusion of Kerkuk to the autonomous region. Because of Kerkuk’s oil resources and 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. Nevertheless, the two main Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party “KDP” and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan “PUK”, have long considered Kerkuk to be an integral part of a future Kurdish federal region. In contrast the Turkmen of Iraq vigorously oppose the idea of Kerkuk being a part of the Kurdish federal region. Moreover, Turkey has repeatedly expressed concern about Kurdish aspirations over Kerkuk, stating that Kurdish control over Kerkuk could fuel Kurdish nationalism in the region and undermine the rights of Turkmen residents in Kerkuk. This could lead to instability in the region and, possibly, civil war. Kerkuk itself has become almost synonymous with the abusive Kurdasiation campaign.
The Kurds have intensified their Kurdisation campaign in the city of Kerkuk. The Kurdish officials working at the administration of the Kerkuk Municipality have been confiscating real estate and lands belonging to the town administration with a view to granting them to ethnic Kurds newly arrived in Kerkuk and who are not originally from the town. The main objective and intention of the Kurds is to change the demographic structure of the city ahead of the census to be held on the Dec. 31, 2007.
The demands of the Iraqi Turkmen Association in United Kingdom are as follow:
Regarding the British Consulate in Iraq, Kerkuk shall have direct liaison with the Iraqi Turkmen representative in Kerkuk in discussion of matters that are related to Turkmen people. The meeting shall be held without the influence and interference from Kurdish political organisation. Moreover, in order to avoid any misleading, twisting and manipulation of the discussed subjects during the interpretation, the Turkmen would like to provide their own interpreter during the discussion rather than an interpreter being provided by Kurds.
We are glad to provide you with our contact name in Kerkuk, Mr.Ali Mehdi and Mr. Hassan Turan who are currently serving as a Member of the Governing Council of Kerkuk.
For the last few years, all Iraqi Turkmen recommendations and suggestions that have been put forward to the allied forces in and outside of Iraq have never been taken to consideration and have fallen on deaf ears. After the fall of the previous Iraqi regime, the Turkmen had high expectations of the interim administration established after April 9, 2003. The Turkmen expected to see democracy, fairness, and 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 police force and military personnel that are currently serving in Kerkuk shall not be controlled by a specific group of people or political parties. The police force and military personnel from various parts of Iraq shall be deployed and utilised in Kerkuk rather then being controlled by specific militia.
The deployed police force and army personnel in Kerkuk shall be independent and not be a linked to any political party but unfortunately the established police forces clearly orchestrated in the last two elections taking sides in favouring groups that have appointed them.
The total rejection of Article 58 and referendum in Kerkuk on the final status of the city in 2007.
The Turkmen, as staunch believers in firm national principles, strongly reject the articles 58 and clauses in the Iraqi draft constitution that do great prejudice against the Turkmen and their national identity. The Turkmen are extremely worried over efforts aiming to make Kurds a majority in the northern Iraqi oil town of Kerkuk, as U.S. backed Kurdish forces took the city under control.
The fate of the disputed Iraqi city of Kerkuk is vital for all of Iraq and a planned referendum on its status should be held across the country, not in Kerkuk only as intended now. The Turkmen declared that Kerkuk is an Iraqi city and all the people of Iraq should decide on its fate. A referendum to be held only in Kerkuk would not be acceptable and valid since it is extremely easy to manipulate election results in the city.
The issue of Kirkuk’s status is potentially explosive for Iraq, and ethnic conflict over the city could spark violent clashes and even a civil war across Iraq that could eventually lead to disintegration of the country. The Turkmens and Arabs plight for the demographic structure of Kerkuk has been seriously distorted as Kurds, backed by armed Peshmerga forces, have been migrating into the city in large groups claiming to be original residents pushed out of Kerkuk in the past decades as part of the now-ousted Saddam Hussein's Arabization campaign.
Iraq's interim constitution, which is expected to be approved by the country's first post-war permanent Parliament in the coming months, foresees a referendum in Kerkuk on the final status of the city in 2007. Kurds claim the city must be a part of their autonomous region, which currently covers three provinces in the north. Turkmens and Arabs are also vying for control of the city. With a wave of Kurdish immigration to Kerkuk under way for several months, a Kurdish victory in the upcoming referendum is seen as highly likely.
There were serious irregularities in the city in Iraq's parliamentary elections held on Dec. 15 and called for efforts to rewrite flawed voter lists and register true residents of the city in an internationally observed campaign. The United Nations, the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) should get involved in the process of registering the genuine residents of Kirkuk’s status is extremely critical because it would either unite or divide Iraq. Moreover, Iraqi independent commission completely shall not be used or involved in any sort of active role for any referendum that might be carried out on in the future of Kerkuk since all the Iraqi independent commissioned are some how biased and affiliated and influenced by specific political party. Also, during the last election the, Iraqi independent commission had proven to be extremely weak, ineffective and was easily bound to the pressure from political parties and they were subjected to manipulation and influences that was created by a specific armed militia.
In conclusion any decision on the future of Kerkuk should be under control of UN and not the Iraqi Government as we all know that the Iraqi Government is controlled by three parties and they have their own strategies. The referendum that is going to be held before the end of 2007 is going to be vital and would have dramatic affect on Iraq in general and Kerkuk city especially. We recommend that the suggested referendum to be organised and run directly by the U.N and the appointee of this referendum to be independent and directly to be appointed by the U.N. Also we want all the observers to be appointed by the U.N and to be independent.
The Kurdization policies, more active role and British government involvement to halt both Kurdish parties from changing the demography of the North of Iraq. The systematic forcible transfer of the Turkmen and Arabs populations aimed at changing the demographic nature of northern Iraq is a policy that is commonly referred to as Kurdization. The two main Kurdish parties’ programme of resettling Kurds families who were brought from brought from other provinces, such as Iran, Turkey, Syria and north of Iraq to replace and dilute the Turkmen and Arab population.
The forced and arbitrary transfer of populations is not permissible under international law and is a crime against humanity. Nevertheless, the both Kurdish parties sought to alter the demographic make up of northern Iraq in order to reduce the political power and presence of Turkmen and Arab and consolidate control over this oil-rich region.
The repatriation of all the Kurds who were brought to Kerkuk and surrounding areas from other provinces, such as Iran, Turkey, Syria and north of Iraq to be return to their original places. Many of them were settled in the houses of the forcibly evicted Arabs and of the high-ranking Ba’ath party members who fled from Kerkuk city after the fall of the Ba’ath regime. The new Kurdish arrivals have been squatting in the governmental and the high-ranking Ba’ath party members’ houses that have been deserted. Also, the squatters have been given original Iraqi identity cards, passport and registered identity showing them as residents of Kerkuk.
The disarmament of the Kurdish militia and the utilization of the UN troops in North of Iraq as a peace keeping instead of the US troops since all the Kurdish militia in north of Iraq whom are terrorizing the population. Human rights organization openly declared that they couldn’t see any difference between the practices of Saddam’s administration and those of the Kurds. Saying the attitudes of Kurdish Peshmerga also damage the US reliability and nobody wants to work with Americans any more, because, the Americans gave power to the Kurds and Shiites. Nobody has any rights except the Kurdish Peshmerga and Shiite militias. The Kurdish rebels still remain armed with weapons and they are enforcing their ideas on the Turkmen, Arabs and Assyrians against their wishes.
The police and security units, forces led by Kurdish political parties and backed by the U.S. military, have abducted hundreds of Turkmen and Arabs and Turkmens in this intensely volatile city and spirited them to prisons in Kurdish-held northern Iraq, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials, government documents and families of the victims. The Turkmen and Arabs were seized off the streets of Kerkuk in joint U.S and Kurdish militia. The Turkmen and Arabs men have been transferred secretly and in violation of Iraqi law to prisons in the Kurdish controlled cities of Erbil and Suleymaniya, sometimes with the knowledge of U.S. forces. The Turkmen and Arabs detainees, including merchants, members of tribal families and soldiers, have often remained missing for months; some have been tortured, according to released prisoners.
The ratification of the new constitution to include that Iraq consists of Arab, Kurds and Turkmen. In the newly formed constitution by the interim government it is clearly stated that Iraq consists of only Kurds and Arabs. The Turkmen have been totally disregarded and we strongly believe that a new Iraq must be inclusive, ethnically and religiously balanced in representing Iraq's three main groups. The Iraqi constitution, which was submitted on Monday, August 22, 2005, is a historic document in Iraq’s history and become the most influential document produced in the Middle East in 100 years. The constitution will have a profound influence on the development of democracy and human rights. Although, it is a step, it takes more than it does gives. We must keep in mind that the constitution was written under the occupation forces and under the influence of the Shi’aa and Kurdish parties, therefore, it remains to be seen how the jurist will interpret and apply the language of this document so that it protects the minorities of Iraq. Minorities that include Turkmen, Assyrians, Yezidis and Shabaks.
A separate federation for Kerkuk
Turkmen are against such a federation. A federal regime not based on solid ground would plunge Iraq and the region into chaos but Turkmens have warned that they would pursue their own path to have a Turkmen region if the process of Iraq going to pieces along ethnic and sectarian differences proves to be irreversible. But the Turkmen right to self-rule is reserved if this process cannot be stopped, the proposed Turkmen region would stretch from the northwest town of Tal Afar near the border with Syria down to Kerkuk and Mandeli, further southeast, close to the border with Iran. With a significant majority of Turkmens living in the Kurdish-controlled region in the north, the Kurdish attempts to consider all non-Kurdish groups as a minority and deny them many rights that they want for themselves in the new Iraq. “Looking at the vast area that is included in the Kurdish region, one can see that close to 40 percent of the population is made up of non-Kurdish people. Still, they call a region with such demographic diversity ‘Kurdistan.
Iraqi Turkmen Association in U.K,
Email msalman@eircom.net
Mofak Salman, Ireland, Dublin

Kirkuk's future could make or break new Iraq

2006-03-30T00:24:00.000+02:00

Kirkuk: Arab, Kurdish and Turkmen claims over Kirkuk are couched in explosive rhetoric and sometimes marred by bloodshed like incidents over the new year, but the fate of this northern oil centre could well be a factor in making or breaking US plans to reshape Iraq.
In a classic example of the Arab adage "my brother and I against my cousin and my cousin and I against the stranger," Turkmen and Arabs, both Sunni and Shiites, gathered in Kirkuk Wednesday to protest a recent push by Kurdish leaders for the city's incorporation in a Kurdish autonomous region.
Many came from villages in the predominantly Sunni Arab Hawijah plains west of the city. Some came from Baghdad and from as far south as Nasiriyah and Basra, heeding the call of their tribal kinsmen.
Iraqi flags fluttered alongside blue Turkmen ones and green and black Shiite banners as protesters gathered in the festival square of what they call "the city of brotherhood."
A fiery group of young people broke ranks with what the local US military commander said was a peaceful demonstration and made its way to the city headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
Gunfire broke out, killing four and wounding around 30, with the Americans and Kurds blaming supporters of the former regime of Saddam Hussein for the trouble and the protestors saying the PUK guards shot first.
Two Kurds were stabbed to death Thursday night in Kirkuk and an Arab was killed in clashes with police south of the city.
"The struggle demands sacrifices," said Sheikh Ghassan al-Obeidi adding that the bloodshed marks a line in the sand in what could escalate into a civil war if Kurdish leaders pursue their "posturing and antagonistic tactics."
Sheikh Ghassan and his brothers Burhan and Salem carry the legacy of their late father Sheikh Mizher who commanded all of Iraq's Obeidis and whose ranks include many Shiites that married into the tribe.
"If Kurds continue to believe that Americans are on their side and just think about achieving maximum gains in the short term, then this will lead to a civil war," said Sheikh Ghassan, who resigned in November from a city council set up by US forces last May with representatives from all communities.
He said he had nothing against Kurds, many of whom have blood ties with Arabs, but his main concern was the "militant attitude" of the two main factions -- the PUK led by Jalal Talabani and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani.
Talabani and Barzani want Iraq's US-installed Governing Council to recognise their vision of a federal state well before the approval on March 1 next year of a Basic Law to govern Iraq during the transition period through 2005.
Kurdish leaders in Kirkuk say their intentions regarding federalism have been clear since 1992.
"I am for a Kurdistan that would include Kirkuk but this must come after normalising the political situation and conducting a census," said Jalal Jawhar, the PUK's chief in Kirkuk.
Jawhar said the census would only come after allowing an estimated 250,000 Kurds, inside and outside Iraq, to come back to their homes in Kirkuk, from which they were driven by Saddam starting in the 1970s in his drive to alter the ethnic makeup of the area in favour of Arabs.
Kurdish leaders in Kirkuk also claim that Saddam chopped off parts of Tamim province around the city and added them to neighbouring Diyala, Nineveh and Salahaddin provinces.
They want this land returned to Kirkuk as part of any eventual settlement.
Enter the Turkmen, believed to be the third largest ethnic group in the city after the Arabs and Kurds out of an estimated population of one million.
The mainly Shiite Turkmen have strong backing from Turkey, which has criticised the Kurdish push for federalism fearing that this might fire up nationalist feeling among its own restive Kurds.
Kirkuk's Turkmen police chief Turhan Yussef wants US troops to take more responsibility for security and to scrap the current system of allocating 40 percent of police jobs to Kurds and giving Arabs and Turkmen 28 percent each.
The United States, which has control of northern Iraq, says its role in Kirkuk is to "facilitate" political discussion among the ethnic groups.
US Colonel William Mayville of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, which patrols Kirkuk and Hawijah, says the violence goes back and forth between Kirkuk's ethnic communities and insists the recent violence is not the start of civil war.
"There are a lot of AK47s out there, and in any country, including Iraq, the heat rises enough, you can get some of the kinetics you saw," he told AFP.
"This is not the start of a civil war but that is not to downplay how serious politically what's going on here is."
But Sheikh Ghassan complains that US forces sometimes succumb to what he says is the Kurds' tendency to play the Saddam card, accusing Arabs in the area of having collaborated with the fallen dictator.
"The Americans sometimes act out of ignorance," he said.

Trouble in Kurdistan

2006-03-20T22:43:00.000+01:00

Long the example of how a prosperous Iraq might look, the northern region's ugly side comes to the fore in a series of violent outbursts
By ANDREW LEE BUTTERS/ERBIL

A Hundred Small Saddams

Sunni-dominated Kurdistan is a tolerant refuge for religious minorities, who are free to worship as they please, these groups say. But the ruling parties keep tight rein over the Muslim religious establishment through the Ministry of Awqaf, an institution that was created by Iraq’s British overlords in the 1920s to control mosques, mullahs and what gets said in Friday sermons. The Baathists maintained the Awqaf as a useful tool of coercion, but it was disbanded by the American-appointed Governing Council in 2003 and forbidden by Iraq’s new constitution. Yet Ministries of Awqaf still exist in Kurdistan, and are still used to enforce political orthodoxy. “Instead of one big Saddam, we have a hundred small Saddams in Kurdistan,” says mullah Ahmed Wahab, a member of the Iraqi parliament for the KIU and the head cleric of mosque in Erbil until he was fired by the Erbil Awqaf on the pretext that he held two jobs.