PRESS RELEASE
IRAQI TURKMEN REPRESENTATIVES IN EUROPE
DEMONSTRATE IN FRONT OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IN BRUSSELS ON 27th AUGUST 2007 TO DENOUNCE THE CONTINUED DISCRIMINATION AND MARGINALISATION OF THE TURKMEN COMMUNITY IN IRAQ
IRAQI TURKMEN REPRESENTATIVES IN EUROPE
DEMONSTRATE IN FRONT OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IN BRUSSELS ON 27th AUGUST 2007 TO DENOUNCE THE CONTINUED DISCRIMINATION AND MARGINALISATION OF THE TURKMEN COMMUNITY IN IRAQ
Representatives of the Iraqi Turkmens in Europe are demonstrating today in front of the European Parliament to denounce the continued discrimination, marginalisation and increased ill-treatment of the Turkmens in Iraq since the occupation of their country in March 2003 by the US-UK forces which allowed the Kurdish parties’ militia to penetrate and occupy all the Turkmen cities and towns in the Turkmen region of Iraq.
Despite the fact that the Turkmens constitute the second main ethnic group in the north of Iraq along with the Kurds and the third main community in Iraq along with the Arabs and Kurds, they continue to be institutionally marginalized and constitutionally discriminated in Iraq where they are considered as a ‘small minority’ rather than a main community which downgrades them to ‘second class citizens’ with fewer rights than the Arabs and the Kurds.
The Turkmen population in Iraq is estimated at around 3 million, representing 12% of the Iraqi population, they live in the region called TURKMENELI which separates the Arab and Kurdish regions of Iraq.
The aim of this demonstration is:
1- To denounce the hegemony of the Kurdish parties who are controlling the entire Turkmen Region, including their capital city KERKUK and who are marginalizing and discriminating against the Turkmens
Despite the fact that the Turkmens constitute the second main ethnic group in the north of Iraq along with the Kurds and the third main community in Iraq along with the Arabs and Kurds, they continue to be institutionally marginalized and constitutionally discriminated in Iraq where they are considered as a ‘small minority’ rather than a main community which downgrades them to ‘second class citizens’ with fewer rights than the Arabs and the Kurds.
The Turkmen population in Iraq is estimated at around 3 million, representing 12% of the Iraqi population, they live in the region called TURKMENELI which separates the Arab and Kurdish regions of Iraq.
The aim of this demonstration is:
1- To denounce the hegemony of the Kurdish parties who are controlling the entire Turkmen Region, including their capital city KERKUK and who are marginalizing and discriminating against the Turkmens
2- To reject Article 140 which was written by the Kurds and was added to the new Iraqi constitution to allow them to annex KERKUK to the Kurdish Autonomous Region
3- To demand equal rights for the Turkmens in Iraq: equal to those of their Arab and Kurdish compatriots. The Turkmens are one of the three main communities in Iraq together with the Arabs and the Kurds; they are the second main community in the north of Iraq, notwithstanding this they continue to be marginalized and are considered as “a minority” and as “second class citizens”
4- To demand a special status for KERKUK, similar to that of the capital BAGHDAD, as it was specified in Iraq’s provisional constitution which clearly stated that “KERKUK and BAGHDAD would have a special status and would not be part of any regional or federal state”
5- In the case of a “Federal Iraq”: to demand regional autonomy for the Turkmens and the creation of a “Federal State of Turkmeneli” as a Homeland and a Safe Haven for the Turkmens where they can administer themselves and protect their lives and preserve their identity and culture.
Iraqi Turkmen Front European Representation – Belgium
Committee for the Defence of the Iraqi Turkmen Rights - Belgium
Culturele Stichting Irakees Turkmen – The Netherlands
Human Rights Center Kerkuk - Sweden
Euro-Turkmen Friendship Association - Belgium
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