Iraqi Kurds Take Tough Stance on Kirkuk

Wednesday February 15, 2006 1:01 AM
By PAUL GARWOOD
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Kurdish political chiefs led by President Jalal Talabani warned Shiite leaders Tuesday that a deal on the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk would be their key demand in talks on forming the country's next government.
Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni Arab leaders met in the most intensive discussions over the next government since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari narrowly won a ballot last week to be the dominant Shiite alliance's candidate to retain the premiership.
Talabani also met with al-Jaafari's coalition ally, top Shiite political leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, whose candidate to be the next premier, Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, lost by one vote to al-Jaafari.
Talabani said his Kurdish coalition's key demand in the government talks concerned Kirkuk, particularly implementation of the constitution's Article 136, which calls for a census to be held there followed by a referendum on whether it should be part of the Kurdish self-ruled Kurdistan region.
``The Kurdish Coalition has no demands except those which are known by everyone regarding the need to implement Article 136 of the constitution ... considering Kirkuk,'' a statement released by Talabani's office said.
Prominent Kurdish politician Mahmoud Othman said the constitution's Kirkuk clause is ``nonnegotiable.''
However, Arabs and Turkomen oppose the Kurds taking sole control of Kirkuk, the center of Iraq's vast northern oil fields. Control of Kirkuk is among the most intractable issues facing Iraq because of the conflicting ethnic claims.
Al-Jaafari, meanwhile, vowed Tuesday to work in ``accordance with the constitution'' and maintain his ``good, long and deep relations with the Kurds,'' particularly Talabani. The two have often been at odds over various issues.
Kurds complain that al-Jaafari's outgoing government failed to honor promises about the status of Kirkuk. Saddam Hussein deported tens of thousands of Kurds from the Kirkuk area and replaced them by Iraqi Arabs.
Talabani also said he wants the next government to include the Iraqi National List of former premier Ayad Allawi, who has close ties with the United States and has been touted as a possible interior minister.
Sunni Arabs oppose hard-line Shiites like current minister Bayan Jabr claiming the Interior Ministry amid accusations Shiite-led security forces have been killing and kidnapping Sunnis in a wave of sectarian violence.
But some Shiite leaders, including allies of radical cleric and al-Jaafari ally Muqtada al-Sadr, also oppose Allawi taking a senior government post, seeing it as a ``red line'' issue. Al-Sadr supporters reject Allawi because he directed Iraqi security forces in campaigns against al-Sadr militiamen in Najaf and eastern Baghdad in 2004 and early 2005.
But in his talks with Talabani, al-Hakim said there were no ``red lines'' on any bloc taking part in the government, a reference to Allawi's group.
The U.S. wants Iraq's various political groups to form a national unity government that gives key positions to Sunni Arabs, who form the backbone of the raging insurgency. Sunni satisfaction with the political process is seen as a way to end the violence.
Much of the battle over the new government will come down to numbers. Talabani's coalition has tapped him to take the presidency again, but he needs two-thirds of the 275-seat parliament to support his nomination.
Al-Jaafari's alliance holds 130 seats, not enough to form a government on its own. The Kurds, Allawi's list and a Sunni Arab bloc hold a total of 133 seats. Any government will be approved only after intense bartering.
Under the constitution, the new president calls on the largest bloc's candidate for prime minister - that being al-Jaafari - to form a Cabinet, which requires a simple majority of the assembly to be approved.
The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday welcomed the final results of the Iraqi election and called on political leaders to form ``a fully inclusive government'' that will strive to build a democratic and united country.
The council condemned acts of terrorism in Iraq and urged those who continue to use violence ``to lay down their arms.'' It said terrorist acts ``should not be allowed to disrupt Iraq's political and economic progress.''

Iraq: More trouble brews as new government takes shape

DOHA, Qatar (IPS/GIN) - Six weeks after parliamentary elections, occupied Iraq is still struggling to establish a viable government amid increasing violence and instability.
The results of the Dec. 15 elections have still to be finalized, but it is clear that the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), a Shia fundamentalist coalition, won at least 128 seats in the 275-seat national assembly. Since 138 seats are required for a simple majority, the powerful group will still have to cut deals with Kurdish or Sunni alliances to form a government.
The Kurdish Alliance won 53 seats. The Turkmen—who claim to represent at least 11 percent of the population of the oil-rich but volatile northern city Kirkuk—are angry that they failed to obtain even one seat in the new parliament. The Turkmen, like the Sunnis around Baghdad, allege widespread election fraud. The Sunni coalition, which boycotted the Jan. 30 election last year and continues to contest the latest election results, won 58 seats.
Former interim prime minister and alleged CIA asset Iyad Allawi managed only 25 seats through his al-Iraqiyah slate, a huge setback to the occupying powers’ plans for a secular Iraq. This means that the government will be dominated by a pro-Tehran Shia alliance, and that Iranian influence will continue to grow in Iraq. On a recent visit to Iran, Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr declared that his Mehdi Army and millions of followers would fight for Iran if it were to be attacked by a foreign power.
In a strange twist of fate, this means that U.S. policymakers are leaning now toward the more secular Sunni groups, some of which claim that Saddam Hussein was a secular Sunni.
U.S. officials, including Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, have been accused by Shia groups of “reaching out” to Sunni Arabs in an effort to counter the growing resistance in Iraq, and in efforts to promote a unified government. Shia leaders see this as an attempt to undermine their power.
“The Americans are so focused on Sunni interests that their motivation goes beyond just promoting national unity,” a UIA spokesman said.
Federalism, which in effect would mean decentralization, with more powers to a Shia south and a Kurd north, has emerged as a major sticking point in any consensus. Sunni and Shia leaders have clearly conflicting views on this. Sunni political groups fear that federalism will lead the Kurds and Shias to split Iraq into three parts. The Kurdish north and the predominantly Shia south are the main oil-producing regions of the country.
Sunni Arab leaders oppose either regional confederacies or federalism. They are attempting to form political blocs with secular Shia and Kurdish groups to counter plans for such federalism.
Disputes continue also over control of ministries. Sunnis continue to oppose Shia control of the Ministry of Interior. Sunni leaders say Shia militias are regularly being used as death squads in Sunni areas of Baghdad and Fallujah. Shia leaders have said they will not surrender any ministry that controls Iraq’s security forces. Shias also control the defense ministry.
“This will be one of the hottest issues,” Sunni leader Hussein al-Falluji said. “We will press this in the negotiations, and if the Shias are not flexible on this, it will be a problem.”

Kurdish Name for Historically Turkmen City Altınkopru

Kurdish Name for Goldenbridge (Altinkopru)
The name of the Kirkuk town, Altinkopru, was changed on new guideboards by the Kurdish Administration in North Iraq.
Historically known as a Turkmen town, the town was given the Kurdish name “Pirde” that means “bridge” in English. The officials declined to comment on this change of name that occurred almost two days ago. The Turkmen here said hundreds of people died for Altinkopru during the Saddam Hussein regime. They also argued that the Kurdish political parties are looking for ways of including Altinkopru in the map of Kurdistan.

Exiled Turkmen lay claim to oil riches

Jonny Dymond in Istanbul
Sunday February 2, 2003
The Observer

In a badly lit room in a nondescript apartment in central Istanbul about 150 men and women come this time every year to mourn their dead. Beneath what looks something similar to a Turkish flag, a man sings from the Koran to a sombre audience, some weeping, others lost in their memories.
These are the Turks of northern Iraq, known as Turkmen. Many have fled from persecution by Saddam Hussein and every year they gather for mevlit, the mourning ceremony for those who died in either the Iran-Iraq war or in the struggle against Saddam.
Next to the flag is a map of northern Iraq; different colours indicate different ethnic groups. A small strip of light blue at the northernmost edge of Iraq indicates Kurdish predominance. Down south is uncoloured, of no interest to the Turkmen. A broad strip is coloured yellow to indicate Turkmen predominance. Firmly within the yellow area lie Mosul and Kirkuk, one of the richest oil-producing areas in Iraq.
Every room in the apartment has this map on the wall; in his office at the back of the suite the leader of the Iraqi Turks' Association, Kemal Beyatli, has two copies framed and hanging on the walls. Any expression of interest prompts the donation of another copy.
Turkey has always spoken up for the Turkmen community in Iraq, a group most number at about 500,000 in northern Iraq but which Turkey says is three million strong. But in recent months Turkish pulses have been racing at the prospect of a change in control of the areas that the Turkmen say they dominate.
Rumblings about a Turkish claim on northern Iraq started during and after the Gulf war in 1991. Since then Turkey has backtracked, sticking to the line of maintaining Iraq's territorial integrity. But recently Turkish politicians have once again raised the issue of sovereignty.
Alarm bells began to ring loud among Turkey's neighbours when Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis announced last month that Turkey was inspecting old treaties to 'find out whether or not we have lost our rights to this region'.
Mosul and Kirkuk lie just outside the semi-autonomous region of Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Turkey claimed Mosul and Kirkuk for itself when it declared its borders after the collapse of the Ottoman empire in 1920. Even then the area's oil wealth was evident. But Turkey never secured the territory. It recognised Iraqi control of the area in a treaty signed with Britain in 1926.
In his office decorated with paintings, engravings and, of course, maps of Kirkuk, Kemal Beyatli is careful not to step beyond the official line of Turkish policy. He is not, despite the suffering of the Turkmen people at the hands of Saddam, in favour of war.
But about Kirkuk's origins, he is adamant: 'The traditions of the people, the architecture, the cemeteries and the folklore prove to which nation it belongs,' he says. 'One can see very clearly that Kirkuk is a Turkmen region.'
All of which may come as something of a surprise to the Kurds, seen as the dominant ethnic group in the area. But it is the Kurdish presence in the region, rather than old treaties or ethnic links, that drives Turkey's claims.
It is hard to find people in Turkey who really believe that it has sovereignty over Mosul and Kirkuk. Arguments remain over whether Turkey received what it should have from oil revenues, says Hikmet Ulugbay, a former government Minister who ordered research on the issue when he was in office. But he said, 'the 1926 agreement firmly established the borderline. There's no question about it'.
Turkey's most recent claims to Kirkuk and Mosul are more about sending a warning to the Kurds and their likely allies, the US. Turkey will not allow Mosul and Kirkuk to fall into Kurdish hands. It has fought a long and bloody war against Kurdish paramilitaries in south-east Turkey. It believes that any hint of an autonomous Kurdish state would inflame a separatist problem which it has only recently contained.
'The real problem for Ankara,' said Kurdish journalist Ragip Duran, 'is the thought of an autonomous Kurdish state with access to the oil wealth of Kirkuk and Mosul, which would give it economic independence.'
If there is any hint of the oil wealth of the region falling into Kurdish hands, Turkey will not hesitate to move its army - the largest in Europe - into northern Iraq. Turkey announced this week that it was reinforcing its 2nd Army, based near the Iraqi border.
The United States insists that if it fights Iraq it will not be fighting for oil; it has said that the oil of Iraq belongs to the people of Iraq. That may satisfy the great powers. But if Iraq's central authority is destroyed those 'people' may once again become 'peoples', fighting between themselves for the oil wealth that could set them free. Warily, Turkey watches and waits.

Shias Head for Uncertain Govt

...The Kurdish Alliance obtained 53 seats. The Turkmen who claim to represent at least 11 percent of the population of the oil-rich but volatile northern city Kirkuk are angry that they failed to obtain even one seat in the new parliament. The Turkmen, like the Sunnis around Baghdad, allege widespread election fraud. .....continue

Iraqi Women Seek Survival not Science

By Semsinur Ozdemir,
Istanbul Published: Monday, January 30, 2006 zaman.com

The speech made by Dr. Enise Avci, an Iraqi Turkmen, at the "Women in the Alliance of Civilizations" International Women's Congress held by the Prime Ministry of the Women's Status General Directorship at Istanbul’s Conrad Hotel Sunday, and confronted conference participants with the realities taking place in Iraq today.
Dr. Avci’s speech entitled, "Woman's place in science- the Iraq example" in the panel themed "Women in Science and Technology" and expressed the situation in her country as "What is sought in Bagdat (Baghdad) today is survival not science."
She said Iraq, before the US occupation, was in a good condition regarding women's scientific works when compared to other Arab and Far Eastern countries, but today Baghdad, for centuries one of the world's largest science centers, has turned into the capital of a ghost country.
Avci expressed scientific works continued in her country despite the pressures of the overthrown regime and the rate of participation by women in this field was relatively high. ....continiue

Colonel: Key northern town on right track

By PAMELA HESSUPI Pentagon Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- The United States and Iraqi forces have won the upper hand in a key region of northern Iraq, but the American commander warned Friday that victory may be fragile.
"This is a victory for the Iraqi people, it's a victory for the Iraqi security forces, but certainly it's a fragile victory. I mean, this is a brutal and determined enemy who wants to get back into the city, who wants to continue to brutalize these people," said Col. H.R. McMaster, commander of the 3d Armored Calvary Regiment, at a Pentagon teleconference Friday.
"We anticipate that this enemy will continue to try to come back. There will continue to be violence in the city. But we're very confident now that our combined forces -- the police, the army, our forces -- can preempt those attacks," he said.
The 3d ACR launched a months-long campaign last year to oust insurgents, foreign fighters and terrorists from the town and surrounding regions and re-establish civilian control.
"This was an important physical defeat for the enemy because they lost this safe haven and support base in an area that they hoped to use to destabilize the northern region of Iraq. It was also a very important psychological defeat to the enemy because people now understand that these anti-Iraqi forces want Iraq to fail. They now know, because we've been able to demonstrate our intentions with our deeds, that we, the Iraqi army, the Iraqi police, the leaders who have emerged from Tall Afar want Iraq and want
Tall Afar and western Nineveh to succeed," said McMaster.
The 3d ACR arrived in Tall Afar last summer to find the city largely in the grips of local insurgents and terrorist forces moving across the nearby Syrian border. Tall' Afar was a way station, the first stop on the way to key northern city of Mosul 30 miles to the east, and to Baghdad in the south.
"What we saw initially is the enemy was very organized before or specialized within cells, kidnapping and murder cells, mortar cells, sniper cells, and so forth. What we saw initially is a lot of these had consolidated, so you'd find in one house, you know, the propaganda material, the IED-making material, the sniper weapon, and then, obviously, we pursued this enemy.
"I mean, the enemy now, they're skulking around like rats, you know, at night, through the wadi systems and so forth in the city. They can't be seen, because it is them who are afraid," McMaster said.
In November of 2004 the entire western Ninevah province had been the target of a major insurgent offensive during which more than 40 police stations were destroyed by bombs and mortars, and most of the police force run off.
Tall 'Afar has its own set of problems. It's 250,000 residents are a complex tapestry of ethnicities and religions and tribes -- 82 of them. About 95 percent of the town is ethnically Turkmen, with about 5 percent Kurdish. 75 percent of the Turkmen are Sunni and 25 percent are Shia. The Kurds are almost entirely Sunni. While Kurds and Turkmen historically have warred, when sides are chosen in Tall 'Afar, the Turkmen Shi'ites often ally themselves with the Kurdish Sunnis against the Turkmen Sunnis.
On May 1, 2005, a suicide car bomber struck at a funeral in Tall 'Afar killing more than 20 Iraqis and inaugurated a virulent new phase in the insurgency -- between five and 10 attacks a day in the city, and in one month as many as 170. The 3d ACR believes the attack was an attempt by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al Zarqawi's organization to flame ethnic tensions.
"It seemed to be going well for the enemy as the regiment began to arrive in the area of operations in the summer of 2005. The enemy had taken over the schools, taken over the mosques. At least five civilians were being killed per day, at least that was the average," McMaster said.
The insurgent forces "hoped to incite sectarian violence which they did by collapsing the police force, turning the police force in effect into a sectarian militia that further fed the cycle of sectarian violence," McMaster said Friday.
While a Turkman Sunni mayor had governed the town, the police had been entirely Shi'a since 2004 when the Shi'a chief fired all 400 Sunnis.
When the 3d ACR arrived in Tall 'Afar in May, it discovered and freed two dozen abused and malnourished Sunnis being held prisoner by the police in town hall. The 3d ACR replaced the Shi'ite police chief with a Sunni general from Baghdad, and some 120 Tall 'Afar police have been referred to the Interior Ministry for investigation.
"I'm happy to report to you the situation in Tall Afar and in western Nineveh has fundamentally changed. And what we have been able to achieve there together alongside our Iraqi brothers is to bring life back to this area, to rekindle hope," McMaster said.
Attacks are down to 30 to 40 a month, McMaster said, and most contact with the enemy is initiated by American and Iraqi government forces.
The tipping point, according to McMaster, was the campaign to oust insurgents from their stronghold in a particular neighborhood in Tall 'Afar called Sarai. The campaign was marked by a 5,000-man joint U.S-Iraqi incursion to clear Sarai in September, but that was book-ended by a vast series of smaller raids in surrounding areas. By the time the 3d ACR got to Sarai, it was empty. That was the intention. The upcoming operation had been publicized in the hope that non-combatants and insurgents would flee, allowing the neighborhood buildings to be thoroughly checked and cleared of all weapons. It worked: During the three-day operation no casualties were reported and U.S and Iraqi patrol bases were established in the once impenetrable neighborhood.
With the town cleared of its violent element, the civilians returned to normal life. According to McMaster, it is going extremely well. Ninety percent of eligible voters took part in the December election, the entire town now has water and power, a function of improved security.
The key change is on the police force.
"Before the operation we tried very hard to rebalance the police force but,despite our efforts, only three Turkmen Sunna were able to volunteer because their families were in threat of being murdered if any of their sons or brothers or husbands joined the police force," McMaster said.
"Now we are building to a police force from what was 150 and all Shi'a, to a force of 1,765, who are just about fielded now, have been equipped and are undergoing additional training and integration with the Iraqi army's and our security efforts within the city."
The new force is roughly reflective of the population; about 70 percent of the new recruits are Turkmen Sunni, McMaster said.
"The most tangible thing we can see is that people are happy. Hope
is rekindled. Children rush to our soldiers. People spontaneously express
their gratitude to us and the Iraqi army. There are bonds of trust, mutual
respect, common purpose forming between the Iraqi army and the people, and
we're working on now reintroducing the police force and rebuilding its
credibility after the difficult period that the city is emerging from," McMaster said.
He also said some newborn babies have been named after 3d ACR soldiers, a sign of the esteem growing between the people of Tall 'Afar and the regiment.
McMaster credited the enemy he faces in Iraq with some of his victory.
"I mean, we ought to give the enemy credit for helping isolate themselves from this population. And their utter, utter brutality and inhumanity revealed what their true intentions were and allowed us to get after the enemy very effectively while protecting the population," he said.
As an example, 3dACR officials told UPI in September 2005 that one Tall 'Afar man was killed while retrieving the dead body of his 12-year old child, who had been shot to death by insurgents. The boy's body had been cut open, stuffed with an explosive device and dumped in the street. When the father picked him up, they both exploded.
"We'll stay after the enemy to maintain the momentum we have, maintain the initiative and, you know, make good on our effort here in the long term, so these people, who deserve security so much, have that security, enduring security, in the city and throughout western Nineveh province," he said.
The vast majority of the troopers in the 3rd Cavalry are in Iraq for their second tour of duty. They are expected to be redeploying to the United States this spring after a year in Ninevah.
McMaster said the unit replacing them has roughly the same numbers and capabilities -- attack helicopters, heavy armor, and artillery as well as infantry -- and knows it is in for a continued fight.
"There's not going to be any kind of degree of drop-off in effort," McMaster said.
McMaster as a major in 1997 wrote the influential book, "Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, The Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies that Led to Vietnam."

Report: Iraq minorities face greatest threat

Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Sun, 01/22/2006 - 15:56.
A press release from Minority Rights Group International:
World War 4 Report - Brooklyn,NY,USA...
since throughout December's elections, Iraqi Sunni, Shi'a, Kurds, Turkmen, Christians and ... ethnic minorities that do not have a strong political voice in Iraq. ...

Iraq Is in a Race Against Time as Congress Grows Restless

BAGHDAD, Iraq
WHEN Iraq's leaders gather this week to begin the elaborate horse-trading required to fashion a coalition government, one non-Iraqi will be very much at the table: Zalmay Khalilzad, the unabashedly hands-on American ambassador.
The advice of Zal, as he's known around Baghdad, will not be subtle. The United States did not expend such volumes of blood and treasure to go coy at this critical juncture. "A Kurdish-Shia government will not solve the problem," Mr. Khalilzad said. "Iraq needs a government of national unity." ...continue

Iraq sliding

Every time an election or a referendum takes place in Iraq, it almost invariably creates hope that the regime will gain legitimacy and that terrorism and the Sunni resistance will lose momentum. That hope, however, quickly fades. This time, too, in the wake of the election there has been a sudden, big increase in attacks directed at US troops, Shiites and state institutions.


Gündüz Aktan

Every time an election or a referendum takes place in Iraq, it almost invariably creates hope that the regime will gain legitimacy and that terrorism and the Sunni resistance will lose momentum. That hope, however, quickly fades. This time, too, in the wake of the election there has been a sudden, big increase in attacks directed at U.S. troops, Shiites and state institutions.
America is to withdraw some 20,000 troops from Iraq out of a force that currently totals 160,000, including reinforcements sent in for the elections. This development is not unexpected. However, according to a previous congressional decision, plans for the withdrawal of the remaining forces must be announced during the initial six months. Any such announcement at this juncture would lead to Iraq's unraveling.
America is planning to expand the 200,000-strong Iraqi army and police force to around 300,000 by the end of 2006 and gradually hand the task of ensuring law and order over to them; however, the Iraqi army is not equipped with heavy weapons and the military training program has not been completed. The main problem is that the army does not harbor any overriding concern to preserve Iraq's unity. The Kurds maintain the peshmerga as a force that is much more heavily armed. The Sunnis are not admitted into the army since they are Baathists. As a result, the army is Shiite dominated. This hardly qualifies as an “Iraqi” army.
One U.S. official predicts that if things continue the way they are, the Iraqi army will split into ethnic and sectarian groups, degenerating into a number of armed bands and into militia forces of various segments. In that case, the Shiite-Sunni clash that has been under way could grow into a full-fledged war.
Furthermore, election results show that people all voted for their respective ethnic and religious groups rather than acting as “Iraqis.” Naturally, one cannot expect the army to be any different from the political structure prevailing in the country. In other words, the army could hardly be expected to transcend the “narrow” considerations of the political parties.
America has been in contact with members of the Sunni resistance. Its aim is to drive a wedge between the Sunni resistance and the al-Qaeda-led Zarqawi faction. Indeed, the Sunnis are complaining about al-Qaeda's indiscriminate violence. Sunni resistance fighters aim to drive the U.S. forces out of Iraq and regain their former sovereignty to the extent that it would be possible. Al-Qaeda, on the other hand, has aims that are a lot more extreme. The belated American attempts to win over the Sunnis have not, until now, yielded any results other than bringing about a stronger-than-expected Sunni turnout in the elections. The American press now is adopting a stance that is more critical of the Shiites and Kurds, whose petty moves to shut the Sunnis out of a coalition government are nudging the country closer to disaster.
The Sunnis have another problem. The Sunnis, who governed Iraq for 60 years, used to be known as the country's second largest group, albeit by a narrow margin. Yet, the American press now relegates them to Iraq's third biggest group status. Yet the Sunnis believe themselves to be, in reality, the majority. The truth is that at this moment no one knows the true size of this group. By the way, we do not know the exact size of the Turkmen population in Iraq, either. A census had been contemplated for the autumn of 2004 to determine the size of each group. That would have been important for the soundness of the elections. The plan was later dropped on grounds that this could lead to Iraq's disintegration. However, in any case Iraq is now disintegrating and the lack of information about the true size of each group in Iraq is contributing to this process.
The gravity of the crisis in Kirkuk is increasing. Since the Kurds have helped America, the latter tolerated for quite a long time Kurdish efforts to change the demographic structure of the Tamim province. Under Saddam's rule an Arabification drive had been launched there. To counter the effects of that drive, Article 58 of the Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period envisaged a particular procedure to be followed to ensure that the displaced Kurds would be returned to the province. The procedure was never quite upheld. However, the new Constitution states that a referendum is to be held in 2007 to determine whether the province should be attached to the Kurdish region or to Baghdad. By now the Kurds have forcefully driven out the Arabs and piled a Kurdish population of some 350,000 into Kirkuk. This unlawful fait accompli is the biggest factor that could lead to a declaration of independence on the part of the Kurds and cause Iraq's disintegration.
If, in the face of such a possibility, the Shiites and Sunnis joined hands to protect Iraq's territorial integrity, then that could change the course of the civil war. The fact that terrorist attacks have recently spilled into Kirkuk indicates that this is not a possibility to be taken lightly.

The extent of Kurdification of Kerkuk region

SOITM (Iraqi Turkmen Human Rights Research Foundation),

Nijmegen, 11.01.2006 --

Kerkuk is a region of 2.2% of the planet petroleum deposit,(1) which amounts over 10 billion barrels of the oil reserves.(2-4) According to McDowell the oil revenue at the beginning of 1974 was expected to be ten times higher than in 1972 and Kerkuk accounted for 70 per cent of the state’s total oil output.(5) The oil of Kerkuk is well known for its good quality and shallowness of the wells, the petrol layers lay 840-1260 meter under the surface of the earth.(6) The underground of the city contains a substantial amount of natural gas and sulphur(7,8) which is exploited since the seventies of the latter century. According to Hanna Batatu the population of Kerkuk City was almost all Turkmen until not too past, the Kurds moved into the city with growth of the oil industry, their migration intensified.(9) Edmonds considered the great majority of the Kerkuk city as Turkmen in 1940s.(10) D. McDowall points out that although the Kurds were settled increasingly in the city during the 1930s and 1940s, the Turkmen outnumbered in the province as a whole and predominated in Kerkuk town in 1950s.(11) The arrival of the Kurds into the eastern Iraq had been described by both Phebe Marr and O’balance. Marr mentions: “In recent history, Kurds have been migrating from the mountains into foothills and plains, many settling in and around Mosul in the north and in the cities and towns along the Diyalah River in the south, but most Kurds still live along the lower mountain slopes where they practice agriculture and raise livestock.”(12) O’balance says: “Right up until the end of the 19th century the sight of a large tribal federation, with all its livestock, moving across the mountains and plains of the northern parts of the Middle East in search of fresh grazing, was both splendid and ominous - as nomadic Kurds moved like a plague of locusts, feeding and feuding.”(13) The steps of the Kurdification of the administration system in Turkmen region by the USA authorities in Iraq had been treated in details in the reports of SOITM and in the documents which were presented to the United Nations session on Minorities and Indigenous peoples. Thereafter, the gash of the Kurds continued into the region. The staffs of the governmental offices have been doubled; almost all the new appointees are Kurds. Tens of thousands of the Kurdish families have built houses on the municipality lands and legalized by the Kurdified Kerkuk administration. By the flagrant interference with the voter registration, USA aims to legalize the Kurdification of Kerkuk region. Kerkuk department of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) had registered about 460.000 voters, who hold the official documents of the province, in Kerkuk during the institution of the voter lists at the end of 2004. Before about 10 days of election, the commission was ordered to add about 108.000 Kurds who hold no legal documents proving that they are from Kerkuk province. The total number of the Kerkuk voters became 576.048. By this way, the Kurds win the majority in the Kerkuk council. It should also be noted that the election processes had been achieved under hegemony of the USA military authorities and Kurdified administration of Kerkuk. The realization of the Kurdification processes continued with much strength during the renewing of the voter lists for the election of 15.12.2005. The newly added voters in Kerkuk province reached 227,253, which make 40% of the total number of the Kerkuk voters. The mean of the number of the added voters in the remaining provinces of Iraq was 8.2. The great majority of the newly added voters took place in the election centers of the Kurdish region and with a Kurdish director of registration center.(13) In the early December, the IECI confirmed that about 86.000 voters were cancelled from the voter lists of Kerkuk. On 11.12.2005 and before 4 days of election, the IECI had gone back on his words and authorized the Kurds, who had committed the false registrations, to recheck the documents of these voters during the voting processes in the day of election.(14) Therefore, all these people had voted during the election of 15.12.2006. As a result the number of the voters in Kerkuk province accounted to 803.301. According to the statistics of UNICEF, the percentage of the Iraqis above 18 year was 52%.(15) Consequently, the present population number of Kerkuk province should be 1.544.809. According to the statistics of the ministry of trade of Iraq, number of the Ration Cards, by which every Iraqi receives the monthly portion of foodstuffs, in Kerkuk province was accounted to be 870.000 at the day of occupation. Noting worth, that this number is much possible to be high than the real number to be low. As a result, the increase in the number of the Kerkuk population during the Kurdification period, which started directly after occupation and continues until now, is about by 674.809. The numbers of both the Kurds and the Turkmen, who had been exiled from Kerkuk province during the Arabification policies of Ba’ath regime, were: 100.000 according to the United States special committee for refuges. 120.000 according to the Human Rights Watch and the Kurdish parties.(16) No doubt that the oil patrons in Bush family and in the USA administration can secure the huge oil reserves of the Kerkuk region better by the Kurdish authorities than the Turkmen or Arabs. Note: Reviewed for English language by M. Kelenchy Reference:

1. Ziyad Köprülü, “Turkish Presence in Iraq”, By Ornek Limited Company, Ankara 1996, P. 22.
2. Dale Allen Pfeiffer, “US INTENTIONS”,
   I
3. nternational Finance Center,
4. Iraq Petroleum Company,
   
5. David McDowall, “A Modern History of the Kurds”, I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd Publishers 1996, London & New York, P. 335.
   
6. “The Great Oosthoek Encyclopedia and Dictionary” 1978, Dutch version, volume 11, P. 264 - 265.
   
7. “Encyclopedia Britannica” 1992, volume 6, P. 377.
   
8. “Great Soviet Encyclopedia” 1976, English version, volume 12, P. 510.
   
9. Hanna Batatu, “The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq”, Princeton University Press, New Jersey 1978, P. 914.
   
10. Cecil John Edmonds, “Kurds, Turks and Arabs”: Politics, Travel and research in North-Eastern Iraq”, 1919-1925, Oxford University Press 1957, P. 265.
    
11. D. McDowall “A Modern History of the Kurds”, I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd Publishers 1996, London & New York, P. 329.
    
12. Phebe Marr, “The Modern History of Iraq”, P. 9.
    
13. Press Release of the IECI about the voter lists in Kerkuk,
    
14. Press Release of the IECI about the annulment of the voters from the Kerkuk voter Lists,
    
15. UNICEF, At a glance: Iraq,
    
16. IRIN, “IRAQ: Mixed picture for IDPs in the north!

Gunmen target Iraqi poll HQ

Tuesday 17 January 2006, 13:19 Makka Time, 10:19 GMT

Masked gunmen killed two people in attacks, 30 minutes apart, on an election headquarters and a Kurdish political party office in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday.
The first attack was at about 7am (0400 GMT) on the offices of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, IECI, in southern Kirkuk, according to Farhad al-Talabani, a police spokesmanFour gunmen walked into the offices and fired randomly at employees, killing one of them and wounding another, he said.

Another police spokesman, Ahmad Hamawandi, said that half an hour later, four gunmen fired on the headquarters of the Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, about a kilometre away, killing one and wounding two others.

Two of the gunmen fired from a stationary car and two others got out of the vehicle and shot at party employees as they entered their offices at the start of the working day, Hamawandi said.

Al-Talabani said: "Police suspect that the first attack on the IECI headquarters and the second attack on the party headquarters might have been conducted by the same group of gunmen."

Also in Kirkuk, a roadside bomb exploded on Tuesday morning as a police patrol passed by, wounding two officers in al-Qassab Khan area in eastern Kirkuk, Hamawandi said.

Kirkuk, 290km (180 miles) north of Baghdad, is a hotbed of ethnic tensions claimed by Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen.

Shi'ite bloc short of Iraq parlt majority -source

Reuters - London,England,UK... formed by the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the ... The Shi'ite Patriotic Rafidain group and the Turkish-speaking Turkmen Front won ...

Kurds challenge Baghdad over oil-exploration rights

Washington Times - Washington,DC,USA... Published reports indicate Kurdistan's oil fields are smaller than those in southern Iraq and near the contested city of Kirkuk. ...

Iraq needs to be one, not three

Iraq’s division into three countries or autonomous regions would be traumatic because there are no clear demographic lines separating each distinctive group. Substantial numbers of Sunnis live in Shiite and Kurdish areas. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, Shiites, Sunnis and Turkmen call Baghdad home.

Iraq's destiny still rests between God, blood and oil

The Kurds dominate the puppet army and police; they have determined the ultra-federal character of the constitution and make no secret of the fact that they favour an ethnic cleansing of Arabs and other non-Kurds in Kirkuk, including those born in the city. Oppressed minorities in one epoch can rapidly become oppressors in another as Israel continues to demonstrate to the world. The Kurdish leaders, with Kirkuk in their bag, are happy to become a western protectorate.....

Turkmens to work for Iraq-wide vote on status of Kirkuk

(Turkish Daily News Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)The fate of Iraq's disputed city of Kirkuk should be determined in a vote across Iraq rather than in a referendum only in Kirkuk as planned now, simply because the referendum results would not be reliable, an Iraqi Turkmen official in Ankara said

Kurds flock to Kirkuk, claiming land and oil

"Clearly, for the Kurds, Kirkuk is a strategic prize," said Col. David Gray, commander of the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, charged with securing the province. "They feel very strongly about bringing their people to Kirkuk to right the wrong that was done under Saddam's regime and the Arabization program. That does collide, of course, with the other groups in the province." Arabs and Turkmens argue that many of the Kurds moving in were not displaced by Saddam -- they originated elsewhere and are settling here to ensure that the province is voted into Kurdistan in 2007.

"The Kurds are building property, houses on land they don't own," said Sangul Chapuk, a Turkmen politician who served on the American-appointed Iraqi Governing Council.

The last accurate census showed that the Turkmens, a Central Asian ethnic group that governed this area under the Ottoman Empire, had a slight majority. That was in 1957. The numbers drastically changed under Saddam's decades-long program of ethnic displacement and further shifted after the American invasion. Capt. Greg Ford, 1st Brigade's intelligence officer, estimated that 85,000 to 350,000 Kurds had moved into the Kirkuk region since spring 2003.

TURKEY, IRAQ AND THE KURDS

By Tulin Daloglu
November 1, 2005
washington times

When President Bush welcomed President Massoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq to the Oval Office last Tuesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry asked why he was being called "president." If one needs to put words in U.S. officials' mouth, they would say, "Turks are unpleasantly missing the point when it comes to the onus of our relations with the Kurds."

Robert S. Deutsch, the deputy senior adviser on Iraq to the secretary of state, explained at an exclusive briefing for the Turkish journalists that the title is granted to Mr. Barzani by the Iraqi constitution, and it doesn't present a threat to Iraq's territorial integrity and national unity. Still, practically, when Turks look at America as an example of a federal state, they see only one president to be welcomed abroad.
As in Plato's "Allegory of the Cave," there is a strict contradiction between the reality and the truth as it appears today. What is real is that America is fighting against global terrorism, and Iraq is a needed front in that war. But fighting terrorism in Iraq was never meant to break up the country or create a Kurdistan that would threaten Turkey's territorial integrity.
The truth as it appears today is that Sunnis and Shi'ites are clashing for the first time since the war in Iraq began — which heightens anxiety about the possibility of a civil war. The insurgency continues. Iraqis still do not have security. And the Kurds are trying to maximize their gains and extend the borders of an autonomous Kurdistan.
The Washington Post reports that Iraqi Kurdish leaders are paying Kurds to resettle in Kirkuk for the expected 2007 referendum, which will define the city's region. Kirkuk is oil-rich, which would guarantee the Kurds enough wealth to survive independently. According to The Post, Lt. Col. Anthony Wickham said, "Does that bring greater stability to Kirkuk? No. It brings pandemonium."
Which is exactly the point. The Kurds are thinking more of their own welfare than that of Iraq as a whole. In addition, Kurds' reluctance to fight a terrorist Kurdish separatist organization — the PKK — confuses the situation, particularly in Turkey.
"We were accustomed to viewing them as tribal leaders," Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, the Turkish chief of general staff, said last Friday. "Now, Talabani is the President. Barzani is in another position. We have to accept the changes. If Jalal Talabani comes to Turkey tomorrow, he will come as a head of state."
Alas, Turkey has supported the political process in Iraq; more than 300 Iraqis — Kurds, Sunnis and Shi'ites — have been trained about building democratic institutions in the parliament and other state bodies. Clearly, Turkey's contributions in creating a united and democratic Iraq distinguish it from Syria and Iran.
Turkey is asking the United States to deal with the PKK in Northern Iraq simply because it asks for a reality statement. The PKK is a terrorist organization, according to the State Department's terrorism report, which wants to create an independent Kurdistan with land from the southeast and eastern parts of Turkey.
Kurds in Iran and Syria closely watch the Iraqi Kurds' experience with the United States. It echoes the worries among Turks whether the United States and Europe really believe the PKK is a terrorist organization.
Today's Turkey has begun the process of joining the European Union, and its improving democracy and human-rights record means its Kurdish citizens will benefit. But if Iraqi Kurdish leaders continue to shy away from acting against PKK terrorism, the people will once again suffer. They must state clearly that the PKK is not a human-rights group, and that Kurds can claim their rights peacefully and democratically.
Iraqi Kurds have fought alongside Turkish troops against the PKK in Northern Iraq before. If Iraqi Kurds hesitate to fight PKK terrorists, who kill Turkish citizens because they don't want to act against their fellow Kurds, how can Muslims be asked to fight radical Islamists like al Qaeda? Iraqi Kurds should assure Turkey that terrorism will not be part of the Kurdish quest for rights, and Turkey, the only democratic nation in the neighborhood, should protect them as it did during the first gulf war. The Turkish Parliament allowed U.S. jets to patrol the northern no-fly zone to protect Kurds from Saddam Hussein.
There is more friendship between the Kurds and the Turks than the animosity that clouds it. It is time that America sheds light on that friendship by acting against the PKK.

Tulin Daloglu is the Washington correspondent and columnist for Turkey's Star TV and newspaper. A former BBC reporter, she writes occasionally for The Washington Times.

Various private armies still exist, threatening Iraq's national

... San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
... He also claimed the troops did not respect their brigade commander, Col. Bashar Hussein, an ethnic Turkoman from the northern city of Kirkuk. ...

The ultimate quagmire

[ATimes]
... continue, not even making headlines - explosions at police stations, assassinationsof "Baghdad officials", executions of collaborators, mortars over the Green Zone,scores of innocent civilian victims of car bombings, Marines killed in the Sunnitriangle, Shi'ite death squads, Turkmen fighting Kurd for Kirkuk ... ...

The resistance will go on

Al-Ahram Weekly - Cairo,Egypt
... results, the Sunni lists -- particularly list number 618 of the IAF -- was not sectarian- based; that it included Kurdish, Shia and Turkoman candidates who ...

Sunni leaders challenge the validity of ballot

Financial Times - London,England,UK
... In the mixed-ethnic province of Kirkuk, a Kurdish alliance took 52 per cent of the vote followed by Sunni and Turkoman coalitions with 14 and 12 per cent ...

Life in Kerkuk Getting Hard

[NEWS IMPRESSION]
Zaman Online - Istanbul,
TurkeyKerkuk (Kirkuk), the fourth biggest province of Iraq, has become the most wretched town in the North of the country though it sits on rich oil reserves. ...

Israeli-Turkish Relations in Crisis

Media Monitors Network - CA,USA
... the Turks used to show little interest in the developments in Iraq, but now ... including the oil-rich Kirkuk region, populated by an important Turkmen community. ...

EU Commission on a mission to protect the Assyrians and Turkmen of Iraq

Assyria Times - CA,USA
... On the specific situation of the small communities living in Iraq such as the Christian, Assyrian and Turkmen, the need to ensure that all ethnicities ...

We vote, then we throw you out

Atimesonline

By Pepe Escobar

FIRST, a quick look at the environment ahead of Thursday’s elections in Iraq. Political assassinations, party headquarters burned, abductions (all largely unreported by Western corporate media). A former prime minister, Iyad Allawi — widely known in Baghdad as “Saddam without a moustache” — saying on the record that human rights in President George W Bush’s Iraq are worse than they were under Saddam. Current Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari’s Da’wa Party accusing Allawi of defending the occupiers. Allawi accusing Jaafari’s government of corruption. Former Pentagon asset Ahmad Chalabi’s campaign posters with the inscription, “We liberated Iraq.”

Unstoppable Kurdish Constructions in N. Iraq

Zaman Online - Istanbul,TurkeyAll eyes are on the general election results in the northern Iraqi city of Kerkuk (Kirkuk) as Kurds flocking to the city continue construction works of their ...

The Iraqi Oil after the Elections, an Opportunity or an Illusion?

Dar Al-Hayat - Saudi Arabia... Most dangerously, the capacity of the two giant fields in Kirkuk and Rumeila is steadily diminishing - a problem, which, if unresolved, will curtail production ...

Turkmen Also Complain About Kerkuk Governor

Zaman Online - Istanbul,Turkey... Turkmen parliamentary representative Riyaz Sarikahya, in his interview with Cihan News Agency, said: "Kirkuk city borders should have been closed. ...

Demonstrations over Fuel Price Increases in Iraq

Bay Area Indymedia - San Francisco,CA,USA... This result has provoked consternation among Turkmen and Arabs, who also live ... detonated roadside bombs and conducted assassinations all over Iraq late Saturday ...

Election complaints in Iraq

Daily Journal - Caracas,Venezuela... Al-Sadr, whose militia has twice fought US forces in southern Iraq, had reluctantly ... Saad Arkij, head of an ethnic Turkmen slate in the north, complained that ... continue

The US should set a withdrawal deadline

International Herald Tribune - France... The American experiment in Iraq unfortunately has accelerated the re-tribalization ... tribe or ethnic group - Sunni, Shiite, Christian, Kurdish, Turkmen - as the ... continue

Attack On Turkmen Front Offices

19 Dec 2005 15:23:50 GMTSource: Reuters
KIRKUK - Gunmen attacked offices of the Turkmen Front on Sunday in the northern city of Kirkuk. A guard was killed and three others wounded, a spokesman for the party said.

Suspected Vote Crisis Expects Kerkuk

By Ercan Gun Published: Saturday, December 17, 2005 zaman.com
The Kurdish Alliance leads a clear victory in Kerkuk (Kirkuk) after the elections which were held in a high tension atmosphere due to the last minute approval of suspected Kurdish Votes in Kirkuk.

Kerkuk on Tenterhooks After Demographic Change

By Ercan Gun Published: Sunday, December 18, 2005 zaman.com
Kurds, who changed the demographic structure of Kerkuk (Kirkuk) before the Iraqi elections via migrations outside Kirkuk, came out as the first party in the Iraqi parliamentary elections.

Kurdish frauds

Wach Turkmeneli TV

By Mofak Salman

Photos showing Kurdish frauds have been reported at the voting center in Turkmen City of Altunkoperi, Iraq, where Kurds from North of Iraq were casting their votes. The ink that was used could easily be washed off with some chlorine (bleach). The above photos show Kurdish voters were caught red handed in Altunkoperi, Iraq.

According to the ministry of the commerce the number of the Kurds who were deported from Kerkuk under the Arabization policy by the previous regime was 11,685. However, after the occupation of Kerkuk by the Kurdish militias, the number of the Kurds brought by the both Kurdish parties from outside of Kerkuk city and surrounding area has exceeded 300,000 Kurds.
However during the election on the January 2005. The Independent Electoral commission in Iraq Mr. Yahya Alasi had objected on the participation of illegitimate of 72,000 Kurds whom were illegally being added to the list of the eligible voters by the both Kurdish parties.
Instead of the fulfilment of the above request by the Mr.Yahya Alasi for the removal of the 72,000 illegitimate Kurds the commission has removed Mr.Yahya Alasi from his position forcibly because of the both Kurdish parties insistence.
Moreover, the visits of Deputy of US foreigner minister A. Richard to Iraq 2005 showed the green line and the encouragement to the both Kurdish parties to add the name of 108,000 illegitimate Kurdish voters name to the voting list; this caused an outraged among the Iraqi Turkmen
The Independent Electoral commission for the monitoring the election for the Iraqi parliament members from 13th to the 15th of December, 2005 has discovered a wide range of irregularities carried out by the both Kurdish parties by added 81,000 illegitimate Kurdish names in to the voting list in Kerkuk and surrounding areas by providing them with forgery documents in order to qualified them for the election.


We the Turkmen of Iraq are calling upon the US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and UN representative for Iraq Mr Ishraf Kazi to make sure the removal of the 81,000 illegitimate voters by the election committee whom forcibly inserted to the election list is valid and they should adhere to their decision.
Moreover, the removal of 81,000 unqualified Kurdish voters by using forged document that was provided to them by both Kurdish parties and according to the document numbers 614 /617, dated on the 9/12/2005 and 10/12/2005 accordingly that was released should not been allowed to vote, otherwise allowing these illegal voters to vote is unfair and would be a blow against democracy, and breach of the election rule.
It is shocking to see that the Independent Electoral commission for the monitoring the election for the Iraqi parliament members has deviated from its decision and allowed the illegitimate Kurdish voters to vote. It is utterly unacceptable to see that the independent electoral commission has bowed to the Kurdish pressure.
This clearly indicates that the independent commission is incapable and incompetent in fulfilling its duty. Also the Turkmen of Iraq has completely lost trust in the above commission; therefore we are calling on the UN representative in Iraq for urgent need for establishing independent committee to discuss the above changing.

Iraqi Parties Complain of Vote Irregularities

Washington Post - United States... Saad Arkij, head of an ethnic Turkmen slate in the north, complained that members of his minority and Arabs were barred from voting in Kirkuk, a northern city claimed by Arabs, Turkmens and Kurds. He blamed the Kurds. "Even policemen, when they went to the headquarters to vote, were told the ballots were all gone," he said. "It was unbelievable."......C

Iraq Voter Turnout Estimated at 70 Percent, 1 Iraqi Soldier and 4 Iraqi Children Killed

Al-Jazeerah.info - Dalton,GA,USA... commission did not provide any figures on how many of Iraq's 15 million ... been some violations in Kirkuk," a northern city claimed by Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen. ... continue

Power Fight in Kerkuk Spreads to Polls

By ERCAN GUN Published: Friday, December 16, 2005 zaman.com

While the Iraqis head to the polls for the third time this year, the early-morning voting was quite peaceful in northern city of Kerkuk (Kirkuk), where tension was mounting prior to the election. continue

Turkmen says NO to the oil exploration

Salman Mofak

There has been an oil exploration deal agreed between the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) and the Norwegian DNO Oil Company. This exploration started to talk place in on November 2005 on the Border City of Zakho.

It is my understanding that no approval was obtained from the central government of Iraq. I am deeply concerned that this situation could become potentially explosive especially during the ethnic and sectarian tensions.

It is to my own and other Turkmen astonishment and outrage that such a deal could strike in light of this new draft constitution, which was approved in October 2005. Clearly the aim of the constitution is to involve all government parties in the formation of energy policy and to agree compensation for all areas of the country that were affected, deprived and damaged by the former regime.

Since the occupation of Iraq in 2003 all revenues generated by the KDP has been distributed away from the rest of Iraq, which goes totally against the remit of the constitution. In other words there is a power abuse by the Kurdish Militia generated by the absence of strong central government and the existence of occupation forces.

It is in my opinion and other Turkmen that the wealth generated in northern Iraq should be equally distributed throughout the whole of the country regardless of race or religion or ethnic background.

If it is the true intention of the DNO to help the Iraqi people then surely the exploration of oil should be made democratic process involving representation from all Iraqi fractions. In this way all of the needs of the Iraqi peoples can be met without prejudice and in total agreement with the new constitution.

The DNO’s action in the North of Iraq can be seen that it is treating and considering north of Iraq as a separate country and also encouraging the Kurds to implement their aspiration by ceding from Iraq and providing them with essential revenue and resources. The DNO’s action in the north of Iraq would be a major contribute factor to civil war.

As a result of this Norway would be considered in the eyes of the Iraqi people as occupied forces. Therefore that would be a great possibility that the position of the Norwegian government would be in jeopardy. This might expose the lives of the Norwegian subjects into danger.

Split Between Secular and Islamist Parties Is Seen in Election

By DEXTER FILKINS
Published: December 15, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 15 - Iraqi voters began streaming to the polls Thursday morning in nationwide elections as Iraqi leaders predicted that the vote would split almost evenly between secular and Islamist parties and usher in lengthy political maneuvering....continue

Kirkuk braced for showdown as Iraq election looms

"We could lose Kirkuk," said Sadettin Ergec of the Iraqi Turkmen Front. "Kirkuk is a national treasure and we reject a referendum being held there only," he said on Tuesday. ..continue

FM GUL: “THE UN IS TAKING THE INITIATIVE ON THE KIRKUK ISSUE”

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday attended a foreign ministers’ meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in preparation for the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit which officially starts today. Speaking to reporters, Gul said that UN-led efforts have been underway for clearing the names of non-residents from voter rolls in Kirkuk, Iraq. Asked about Iraqi Turkmens’ concerns regarding the situation in Kirkuk, Gul described the city as a “mini Iraq” and said that Turkey has been closely monitoring the situation there. The foreign minister also said that he recently sent a letter outlining Turkey’s concerns to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and added that everybody is against artificial changes to Kirkuk’s demographic makeup. Gul also said that the “OIC 10-Year Action Plan” covering problems facing the Islamic world, important events, and developments was the most important subject discussed at the meeting of foreign ministers. /Star/

Kerkuk's Status Depends on Iraqi Constitution, not on Barzani

By Zaman Published: Saturday, December 03, 2005 zaman.com

US State Department Deputy Coordinator for Iraq Robert Deutsch said the decision about the ultimate status of Kerkuk (Kirkuk) will be made according to the Iraqi constitution.
Assessing Massoud Barzani’s, the elected president by the regional administration in northern Iraq, statement that “in 2007, Kirkuk will be controlled by the Kurds,” Deutsch said, "I am sure this process to be completed by the end of 2007 will work in favor of all Iraqis."
Deutsch, the undersecretary at the US Embassy in Ankara until a few months ago, met Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ambassador Ali Tuygan on Friday.
The American diplomat answering the press members' questions after the meeting said Kirkuk's status will be determined in accordance with the Iraqi constitution. Iraqis are waiting for the implementation of the constitution for the problems to be solved, he said, and the differences to be removed.
When reminded about the terrorist organization Kurdish Workers's Party (PKK) attempts to take part in the upcoming Iraqi elections on December 15, the US diplomat said the Iraqi independent electoral committee makes the decisions about the elections.
People or groups involved with those encouraging violence will not be allowed to join the elections, Deutsch said highlighting the committee's decision. "The electoral committee must practice its rules." Tens of thousands of Iraqis, trained by some US non-governmental organizations, will serve as observers in the December 15 elections.
Ankara

Turkey Contributes To Democratization Process In Iraq, Deutsch

ANKARA - U.S. Deputy Coordinator for Iraq Robert S. Deutsch said on Friday that Turkey contributed to the democratization process in Iraq.
Robert S. Deutsch met Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ali Tuygan and exchanged views with him about the recent developments in Iraq prior to the Iraqi elections on Dec. 15th, 2005.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Deutsch said that 2006 would be an important year for Iraq which walked on the path of being a pluralist, federal and democratic country. Turkey contributes positively to this process, Deutsch said.
When asked about the recent statement of Massoud Barzani, leader of Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) who had said that Kirkuk would belong to Kurds in 2007, Deutsch stressed that the Iraqi Constitution would be the determining factor regarding this issue. The Constitution prepared by Iraqis would also cover Kirkuk-related issues, he said and added that he hoped the consequence of that legal process would be to the interest of all Iraqis.
When reminded of the news on the initiative of the terrorist organization PKK to take part in Iraqi elections, Deutsch said that the rules of the Iraqi electoral commission didn't permit militants or groups that incited violence to take part in elections.
Deutsch said he believed the Iraqi elections would be fair, legitimate and comply with international standards, adding that Turkey and the international community supported Iraq.

Published: 12/4/2005

Outside View: What to do about Iraq

.......Those committing terrorism are Arab Sunni Muslims who want to regain their community's control over the country either by returning a Saddam-like regime or creating an Islamist-style one. The Kurds, Turcoman, and Shiite Muslim Arabs who comprise more than 80 percent of Iraqis are not going to join them.

Iran, Iraq, Turkey et al.

By Tulin Daloglu
November 29, 2005

Exit strategy

..... Kirkuk remains a powder keg convulsed by disputes between Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds.

Reconcile this

......The Turkomans, for their part, were pleased with the statement by Iraqi Turkoman Front chief, Saadeddin Arkig, to the effect that everyone should work for a united Iraq. Iraq needs help and guidance. Dozens are being killed every day, either by bombers or US "friendly" fire. The main Iraqi reconciliation conference -- the preparations for which was held in Cairo this week -- is expected to take place in Baghdad by the end of February 2006. The question occupying most Iraqis now is if this week's Cairo preparatory meeting could help in curbing the ongoing blood bath in their country.

Head of the Iraqi Turkmani Front: We did not Request Turkish Intervention for Protecting us

Al Zaman
28/11/2005
Mohsen Ameen, head of the Iraqi Turkmani front said that Iraqi Turkmen did not request any interference on behalf of Turkey for protecting them. He added, "We did not demand any state to interfere in Iraqi affairs as we are Iraqi, first of all. All we need is Iraqi army on Iraqi lands.

"I response to a question on whether the Turkmen are demanding for activating Turkey's role in Iraq in the light of the Iranian interference in this country, Ameen said, ""We are demanding the neighboring countries to assist Iraq in its ordeal. This is what the Arab League is doing."

Turkmen leader Ergec makes first official visit to Turkey

Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) Chairman Sadettin Ergec yesterday made his first foreign visit to Turkey at his new post to have several meetings. The visit drew much attention as it's taking place ahead of the Iraqi elections on Dec. 15, and following the meeting in Erbil between Iraqi Kurdistan region President Massoud Barzani and Emre Taner, the undersecretary of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT), before the Kurdish leader left for the U.S. Ergec was welcomed at Esenboga Airport in Ankara by representatives from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the ITF, and the Turkmeneli Association for Cooperation and Culture. Delivering a speech at the welcoming ceremony, Ergec stated that the aim of his visit is to share with Turkish officials the latest developments in Iraq in accordance with the results of the Iraqi Reconciliation Conference that was held in Cairo, Egypt earlier this week.

Ankara Urges Turkmen Groups to Unite

By Suleyman Kurt

Published: Saturday, November 26, 2005
Before the Iraqi elections on December 15, Ankara called Turkmen groups in this country to "unite and go to the elections together" for a more powerful representation.
On Friday, Foreign Minister Abdulah Gul communicated this call to Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) Chairman Sadettin Ergec, who makes official visits to Ankara. Ergec attended a meeting for reconciliation among ethnic and sectarian groups in Egypt last week and now is having contacts in Ankara before returning to Iraq.
Ergec reportedly informed Ankara about the Turkmen stance before the critical election and Gul pointed out Turkmen’s must be powerful in the elections to correct the situation both Ankara and the Turkmen’s are uneasy of.
Gul asserted Turkey's support continues. "If the Turkmen are at peace in Iraq it means we are at peace, too. Go to the elections under one umbrella. Act in the consciousness of Iraqiness, contribute in the country's unity and integrity," he said to ITC chairman. Ergec in return communicated they will form an alliance only in Musul (Mosul) and they will struggle "under their own flag" in other provinces. Both parties shared also their worries about Kerkuk (Kirkuk) in the talk.

Most Iraqis Reject Annexing Kirkuk to Kurdistan

In a survey conducted by Al Madina Independent Center for Surveys in Iraq, two thirds of Iraqi opposed annexing the northern province of Kirkuk, which is rich in oil, to Kurdistan region. They stressed the necessity of the participation of all constituents of the people in the coming government. They expected that this government would succeed in achieving security.

Tentative deal struck at Cairo talks

Turkoman politician Abbas al-Bayyati said of the draft "It is included in the text that an immediate withdrawal is not required right now but that it should be done in a gradual way."

Iraq leaders demand pullout timetable

Iraqi leaders have put persistent differences to one side and agreed on their first joint statement, calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country.

Kurds accused of rigging Kirkuk vote

Turkmen and Arab political parties in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk have accused Kurds of fixing the result of provincial elections held on the 30 January.

Irresponsible on Iraq

Sunday, November 20, 2005; Page B06
A SERIOUS congressional debate about Iraq is essential at a time when public support for the mission is falling and the danger of failure seems great. Aggressive challenges to the Bush administration's military and political strategy -- even calls for an immediate withdrawal of troops, such as that made by

Hawkish Democrat Joins Call For Pullout

GOP Assails Murtha's Demand to Leave Iraq
By Charles BabingtonWashington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 18, 2005; Page A01

The top House Democrat on military spending matters stunned colleagues yesterday by calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, while many congressional Democrats reacted defiantly to President Bush's latest attack on his critics.

THE POLITICAL SPEECH OF THE IRAQI TURKMEN FRONT

The Iraqi Turkmen Front `ITF` works to achieve the objectives ineluded in its political program. The ITF has set these objectives on its patriotie approach in defending IRAQ and its natioal unity, nation and land.

Iraqi Elections – Round Two

Voting Overseas

The Elections Board estimates that there are1.2 million expatriate Iraqis who are eligible to vote. Facilities will be available in 20 countries for those expatriates desirous of voting. These countries are likely to be: Australia, Canada, Germany, Iran, Jordan, The Netherlands, Syria, Turkey, the U.A.E., the U.S., Sweden, the U.K., Kuwait, Yemen, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Libya, Egypt, and Lebanon. Of these 20 countries, Libya, in which 45,000 expatriate Iraqis reside, may not authorize elections on its soil.
In the previous elections, a mere 265,000 expatriates voted, partly because of the requirement that the expatriate must first register and then vote a week later. For those who had to travel, this requirement was quite restrictive. In the coming elections, one visit to the ballot box will suffice. AL SABAH (IRAQ)

A 300-year-old Turkoman mosque

Anita Powell / S&S

A 300-year-old Turkoman mosque on Forward Operating Base Warrior is off limits to U.S. troops, but a chplain is trying to arrange for a local imam to lead prayers there for 16 Muslim soldiers in the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division.

Bullets and ballots

Al-Ahram Weekly - Cairo,Egypt
....The Iraqi Turkoman Front has promised its supporters that Kirkuk would remain a Turkoman city. The Turkoman Front is running in Kirkuk on its own but has entered into alliance with the IRF in Mosul. Several Turkoman candidates are contesting the elections as part of non- Turkoman lists. ..(continiue)

Security Council extends mandate of Iraq force

BEIJING, Nov. 10 -- The United Nations Security Council has voted unanimously to extend the mandate of the nearly 180-thousand-strong multi-national force in Iraq for a year.
The United States called the move a significant signal of international commitment to Iraq's political transition.
Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaida'ie, representative of Iraq to the United Nations said he was happy the Security Council had accepted the request.
"I wish first to express the appreciation of my delegation, for the positive response of the Security Council to the request by the Prime Minister of Iraq to extend the mandate of the Multinational force and the DFI and the IAMB," he said.
The resolution, co-sponsored by the U.S., Britain, Denmark, Japan and Romania was adopted in response to a request from Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
The current mandate authorizing the presence of the force expires December 31st, following parliamentary elections in Iraq on December 15, the end point of the political process as defined by the Security Council.
The resolution adopted extends the force's mandate until the end of 2006, with a review after eight months.
(Source: CRIENGLISH.com)

Kurdization of the city of Kirkuk

The Washington Post profiles the Kurdization of the city of Kirkuk and the villages around it, and tens or hundreds of thousands of Kurds whom Saddam had earlier expelled are brought back and settled, often on private property. Saddam brought Arabs into the city and the area part of an effort to "Arabize" the northern oil-producing region, which he renamed the "nationalized" province (Ta'mim) in commemoration of the nationalization of Iraq's petroleum industry. Kirkuk is a traditionally Turkmen city, but Kurds became a major force there with the rise of the oil industry and labor migration. Because control of Kirkuk province would give the Kurds an enormous petroleum revenue, enabling their quest for an autonomous state, the Turkish government is very worried about all this. Any violence that targeted Kirkuk's Turkmen would produce a strong reaction in Ankara and perhaps drawn Turkey into the conflict.First the government of Italian Prime Minister and wealthy sleazeball Silvio Berlusconi's got involved in forging the Niger uranium documents that underpinned Bush's rationale for war. Then Berlusconi strongly backed Bush, and sent Italian troops to Nasiriyah (where o26 of them have been killed). Now, in an obvious sign that the Bush administration is a sinking ship, Berlusconi is abandoning it. He maintains that he tried to talk Bush out of going to war in Iraq before the fact. This allegation looks to some observers like a bare-faced attempt to run away from Bush in Italian domestic politics, where Berlusconi will face an election soon.Al-Hayat: The United Iraqi Alliance, the mainly religious Shiite coalition, will be made up of 17 parties. They include the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the Sadr Movement, the Dawa Party, the Islamic Dawa Part (Iraq Organization), the Virtue Party, The Centrist Grouping, the Badr Organization, the Justice Grouping, Hizbullah in Iraq [no, not that Hezbollah], the Prince of Martyrs Movement, the Center Grouping, the Faithfulness Movement of the Turkmen, and the Turkmen, etc.

Turkmen Police Officer Shot Dead in Kerkuk

a police lieutenant colonel in the northern city of Kerkük was shot dead by insurgents outside his home late Wednesday.Police identified the victim as Ardjman Abdullah, who last month had escaped an assassination attempt with slight injuries. Abdullah's brother, who worked for the Iraqi army, was murdered last month. Abdullah was a member of a Turkoman Party and had maintained strong contacts with all the various ethnic groups in Kirkuk.

BOOK: The Future Of Iraq

Dictatorship, Democrasi or Division?
the book examines Saddam's authoritarianism, ruthlessness, and dictatorship but also sheds some light on the Baathists built a modern nation.Anderson and Stansfield, the authors say that Saddam had decided in 1970 to reach a political settlement with the Kurds - known to us as the so-called March Memorandum.The book says, and as all Iraqis over the age of 40 know, the Kurds were granted autonomy, the right to speak and teach Kurdish, Kurdish newspapers and a cut of the oil proceeds coming from Kirkuk. But, the book says, US and Israeli intelligence agencies did not like the truce between Saddm and the Kurds and so began mobilizing in the north of the country.

Violence in Iraq - Conspiracy to destroy Iraq

Turkey understands that once violence subsides and stability reigns in Iraq the first order of the day would be for the Kurds to annex many Turkmen villages and then declare either a) Greater Kurdistan or b) declare independence. As we all know, federalism would include that (See Quebec)

PKK Warning to US: Turkey Grows Impatient While Martyrs Fall Everyday

By Zaman Published: Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Turkey follows the developments in Iraq, Erdogan indicated, at each stage, he underlined, Turkey fulfilled its responsibilities. Turkey wanted to assist Iraq in attaining a democratic future with unity and integrity and the government remains sensitive about the situation of the Turkmen and the city of Kerkuk (Kirkuk). Reminding that they continuously asked the Iraqi administration and the US to fight effectively against the terrorist elements in Iraq, he continued:

Ankara’s Expectations For Iraq

MILLIYET- Iraq hasn’t announced the outcome of its referendum on a new constitution. It’s investigating suspicious vote tallies. The US-Iraq administration developed strange rules and interpretations so the outcome would be approval and then carried out a referendum with less strange rules. It was announced unofficially that the result was positive with Shiite and Kurdish votes, and then the official announcement was postponed due to doubts.

Attacking the Arab Representative in Kirkuk during an Interview with "Al Hayat"

Kirkuk – Ja'far Al Ahmar, Al Hayat representative, has been attacked by some police elements, while he was conducting an interview with Mohamed Khalil Al Jabouri, member of Kirkuk province council and spokesman for the Arab Gathering in the province in the yard of the Supreme Commission for the Elections in Kirkuk.

In Iraq's mixed Mosul, voters split over charter

15 Oct 2005 20:34:53 GMT
Source: Reuters
"This constitution is against the unity of Iraq. I want an Iraq made up of Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen," said Subby Haddidi, echoing concerns shared by many fellow Sunnis the draft will lead to the breakaway of Iraq and provides too much power to Kurds and Shi'ites, giving them control of oil reserves.

For or against, Iraqis vote on country's future

...."This constitution is against the unity of Iraq. I will vote 'No'. I want Kurds and Arabs and Turkmen to live together in a new Iraq, but this constitution will divide us," he said.

...Other Kirkuk residents were less happy. "I rejected the constitution because it didn't look after the rights of Turkmen and it was devoted only to Kurds and Arabs," said 50-year-old Shahiq Namiq, a member of Iraq's Turkmen minority.

UN not involved in amending Iraqi constitution - spokesman

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 13 (KUNA) -- The UN was not involved in the negotiations that led to the latest changes to the Iraqi draft constitution, but the UN Special envoy for Iraq Ashraf Qazi has been kept informed of the developments all along, UN spokesman Stephan Dujarric said on Thursday.

Text of proposed Iraqi constitution

The following is the full text of the draft constitution being voted on by Iraqis in Saturday's referendum. It was translated from the Arabic by the United Nation's Office for Constitutional Support, and the translation was approved by the Iraqi government.

Iraqis set to vote, push for change

The Kurds, who make up about 15 percent of the population, view this as an opportunity to form a nucleus of a Kurdish state in the region. They are working to consolidate their hold on the northern city of Kirkuk with its rich oil fields. Already they have evicted more than 100,000 ethnic Arabs and Turkmen from the traditionally mixed city. The Kurds' marriage to the Shiites is one of convenience, which they hope will assure them a large degree of autonomy, if not total separation from Iraq.

Kirkuk's volatile mix to test Iraq's referendum

13 Oct 2005 13:28:17 GMT
Source: ReutersBy Aref Mohamed

Turkmens of Iraq protestors from all over the world says NO to the dratf

KIRKUK, Iraq, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Iraq's government and its U.S. backers hope Saturday's referendum on a new constitution will help unite the country, but nowhere is the challenge of healing ethnic and sectarian tensions more palpable than Kirkuk.
The city, perched over one of the world's great lakes of oil, is claimed by three competing ethnic groups -- Kurds, Turkish-speaking Turkmen and Arabs.
With two days to go before the referendum, many voters in Kirkuk say they will cast their ballots purely along ethnic and communal lines as a way to safeguard their groups' interests.
Such an outcome does not bode well for the future of Kirkuk, where debate on its final status has been set aside until after a constitution is ratified and where observers say ethnic rivalries make it a potential flashpoint of a civil war.
"All Kurds will vote in favour of this constitution, including me, because it is the result of our struggle," said Zaman Khorshid, a Kurdish teacher.
"It will guarantee the rights of Kurds and it is the best accomplishment for the Kurdish movement, which gave hundreds of thousands of martyrs in order to reach to this day."
The Kurds, who accuse Saddam Hussein of 'Arabising' Kirkuk with Arab migrants from the south, want the city to be part of their autonomous region of Kurdistan, which begins just 20 km (12 miles) to the north and west of the city.
Arabs in turn accuse Kurds of packing the city with their ethnic kin to skew a forthcoming census, and of forcing out non-Kurds. They firmly reject claims that Kirkuk is part of Kurdistan.
Echoing fears shared by many Sunni Arabs across the country that the charter will split up Iraq, Mohammed Khalil said he will vote against the constitution, which is backed by most Shi'ites and Kurds.
"We will definitely take part in the referendum and we have called on the people to participate. But we will reject the constitution because it stands for sectarianism and it will divide Iraq," said Khalil, who is a member of the local council.
Tariq al-Sairfachi, a Turkmen engineer, also said he will vote 'No'. The Turkmen also lay claim to historical primacy in the city of one million.
"I'll participate and say a thousand times 'No' simply because (the constitution) did not meet the ambitions of Iraq's third largest group, the Turkmen," Sairfachi said.
"Turkmen will reject this constitution."
While most people in Kirkuk plan to vote, some say they will boycott the ballot completely. Bahman Abdul Qadir, a Sunni Arab religious school student, said there was no point in voting because of foreign interference in Iraq.
"I won't take part in this mockery as long as I live. The occupier writes for us and invites us to vote for it," he said. "They (occupiers) will pass what they want whether we will vote 'Yes' or 'No'."

Two senior officials from ethnic Turkmen parties were abducted

UDAIM - Two senior officials from ethnic Turkmen parties were abducted on Wednesday in Udaim, south of Kirkuk.
Police captain Said Ahmed said Kana'an Shakir, the secretary general of the Independent Turkmen Movement, and Hashim Ali, an official in the Turkmen Front, were kidnapped with nine of their bodyguards near Udaim on their way from Baghdad.

Press Release: United Nations UN's Top Iraq Envoy Discusses Concerns About Voting Process With Kirkuk Local Official

New York, Oct 9 2005 10:00PM
The senior United Nations envoy to Iraq today discussed concerns about the upcoming constitutional referendum with a local official from Kirkuk.
One day after meeting with delegations representing Turkman and Arab communities in the area, Ashraf Qazi, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative, conveyed their concerns to Hamid Majid Mousa, a member of the Transitional National Assembly Constitutional Committee and Chair of Kirkuk Normalization Committee.
Mr. Qazi discussed with Mr. Mousa the Arab and Turkman delegations' worry about the excessive numbers of newly registered voters in Kirkuk and the surrounding areas, according to the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).
Mr. Mousa updated the UN envoy on the situation in Kirkuk, and agreed with him on the need for vigorous measures to ascertain the veracity of the vote in the 15 October Referendum on the Draft Constitution, as well as elections to be held in December. Both men reiterated the importance of adequate political representation for the various communities.
Mr. Qazi restated UNAMI's continued commitment to upholding internationally accepted norms of human rights and ensuring a free, inclusive and transparent political process.

Iraq: Democracy, Civil War, or Chaos?

... When the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan subsidized the distribution of Kurdish flags to mixed communities south of Kirkuk, most Turkmen responded by raising Shi ...

Turkmen In Canada Protested the Draft

In the name of Peace, Freedom and Justice for all Iraqi Turkmens, Kids, Youth, Teens women and man all where together, Iraqi Turkmen people of Canada are came together for a Protesto Demonstration against the new Constitution in Iraq, and were more than prode of calling and screaming to sppurt all Turkmen in Iraq infront of US consulate general in Toronto - Canada.

The comment of Talabani does not reflect reality

However Ahmet Muratli the representative of Iraqi Turkmen front in Ankara reflects another side of the picture, during his Interview in a same day to RFE/RL ,s Turkmen Service, he said [The comment of Talabani does not reflect reality. We are also not against Article 58, but until today -- by bringing people from northern Iraq, from Syria and from Iran and giving them false documents -- they (Kurdish authorities) are trying to increase the number of the Iraqi Kurdish population. When we meet with those newcomers, they admit that they are brought by force (to the region) in exchange for money in order to build a Kurdish majority in Kirkuk.”

RFE/RL: Some Turkmen groups in northern Iraq say that they face pressure from Kurdish authorities. For example, they say Kurdish authorities are encou

RFE/RL: Some Turkmen groups in northern Iraq say that they face pressure from Kurdish authorities. For example, they say Kurdish authorities are encouraging Kurds to resettle Kirkuk to change the ethnic balance in the city. Are ethnic tensions mounting in Iraq?

Our Kurdish Problem

The Kurds are "cleansing" their domain - and provoking a civil war in Iraq

The Kurds didn't even wait for the ink to dry on the proposed constitution before they startedpushing for de facto independence - and pushing Arabs and Turkmen out ofKurdish-controlled cities. Eager to seize control of oil-rich Kirkuk, which they ...

Iraq: Why it’s right to say ‘I told you so’

Christian Aid has also highlighted serious ethnic tensions and growing violence in the north of Iraq, where Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs fight for control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

A Turkmen protest in UEFA Cup

Young Turkmen had protested the injustices committed against his people since the end of the former regime of Saddam Hussein during the UEFA cup game in Malmö-Sweden. OMER ALI SABIR had jumped into the soccer field in Malmö Stadium five minutes before the end of the game between teams Malmö (Sweden) and Basiktas (Turkey). He raised the Turkmen flag and began to take a tour in the field which forced the referee to stop the game for approximately two minutes. Omer Ali Sabir was arrested by Swedish security while he kept screaming LONG LIVE TURKMEN.This incident indicates the anger and the frustration of the Turkmen in Iraq. It is considered to be the first action and also a sign that the Turkmen will never stop demanding their legitimate rights by using democratic processes. Despite the Turkmen constitute 13% of Iraq’s population they were intentionally listed among the others in the Draft Constitution and their language was not considered as the third language in Iraq. The Turkmen were totally excluded from Iraq’s political field.

Tal Afar Refugees Sheltered in Mosul

Families displaced by the fighting in northern city of Tal Afar are flooding into the Mosul area where they’ve found shelter in crowded local homes but face shortages of food and medical supplies.

Iraqi Turkoman Denounce Manipulations Concerning the Referendum on the Constitution

Turkmen political parties complained to the Independent High Commission for Election and stated that this is an additional attempt to “Kurdify” the Turkmen regions.3

Kirkuk hosts religious forum to discuss referendum and elections

TIKRIT, Iraq, September 26, 2005
Task Force Liberty’s 116th BCT sponsors meeting in Kirkuk
Religious leaders of different faiths came together for a forum held in Kirkuk, Monday, Sept. 19, with one thing in common, to learn about and discuss the upcoming constitutional referendum and parliamentary elections. The diverse group ended the show by condemning terrorist acts of violence committed by terrorists.

Kirkuk-Ankara-Brussels Line

Professor Huseyin Bagci
When speaking about the Middle East he mentioned an unusual new pipeline which will likely stir up much debate in Turkey and the Middle East. Talking about the European Union's midterm policy planning he said that the prospects of a new line was emerging which should affect the EU's policies. This is the Kirkuk-Ankara-Brussels pipeline. Not Tehran, not Baghdad but Kirkuk. Kirkuk was here mentioned for the first time by any European politician and now analyst.