vendredi 31 août 2007

Denouncing anti-Islam hysteria

I want to share with you the letter I have just received from my friend Ms Astrid Essed, Human Rights Activitst in the Netherlands

She writes:


Subject : My warning about Dutch anti-Islam hysteria [the Quran remarks of Mr Wilders]


Dear Merry,

How are you? Hopefully, everything is just fine with you

I would like to draw your attention for the following

Undoubtedly you've learnt about the latest racist attack from the Dutch MP Mr Wilders, not only on Muslims [this ''Mister'' is pleading the ''ban on the Quran'', comparing this Holy Book, with Mein Kampf! See: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FAEC4703-83E2-44DA-9DA4-1A7702C354C1.htm

Also, he has waged a racist attack on refugees and asylum seekers, who are called by him ''liars and criminals''

Further, he is targeting his racist attacks against ''non-western foreigners'' [his choice of language], who are all ''criminals'' in his eyes

I see resemblances in his dangerous and hate-provoking policy [especially in this present Western anti-Islam hysteria] and the rise of anti-semitism in the Europe of the thirties of the former century

The disastrous consequences are notorious .

To warn about this danger, I have written underlying, which I have also forwarded to the Dutch and international press I would appreciate it very much, when you would be so friendly, to forward it in your great and impressive network

May justice and human rights are like a flowing river


Hoping to hear from you, again


In friendship

Astrid


P/S See my underlying article:


Dear readers,

Undoubtedly you have learnt about the recent proposed ban on the Quran of the anti-muslim and anti-immigration Dutch MP Mr Wilders [chair of the so-called ''Party for Freedom'', www.pvv.nl], by which he has compared the for million Muslims Holy Book, with Adolf Hitlers ''Mein Kampf”

It is evident, that this reprehensible proposal is the final consequence of his views, which are based on racism and hate provocation

In an earlier article I have already made an analysis of his views

Moreover, with his Quran-remarks he has finally declared war on the fundamental and universal human rights

In his plea regarding the end to freedom of religion, also is embedded his association between the Islam in common and the ''Muslim terrorism'' in particular, of course ignoring the fact, that there are also radical Christian and Jewish political movements

Mr Wilders would not be Mr Wilders, if he didn't undertake also a direct racist attack on ''liars and criminals'' [The Wilders-version of refugees and asylum seekers, who have fled for war, persecution and economic misery] and ''criminal non-western foreigners [in the Wilders-concept, the main cause of Dutch criminality is lain in the presence of ''non-western'' foreigners]

Yet recently he called three suspects of a stabbing-crime, ''three animals of Carribean descent''

A The Dutch denial-politics

In the Netherlands, there are certain politicians and publicists, who think, that it is of no importance whatsoever, to pay any attention to the racist remarks of Mr Wilders, in general and to this last Quran-attack in particular, by which he also attacked foreigners and refugees.

I disagree with them

Not only, non-reaction is a blow into the face of thousands of muslims, refugees and foreigners, who are the socio-political scapegoats anyway, especially since 11-9-2001, also, contemporary history [see between 1933-1945] shows, that political denial of a racist and hate provoking agenda, can be fatal.

It makes no difference, that this is no just historical comparison, since at the case of Mr Wilders, there is, yet, no governmental consolidation of racism.

Fact remains, that Wilders has a considerable political support [1], which still can grow
An other dangerous aspect is, that his racist association of Muslims and foreigners with terrorism and criminality, and his proposed measures, like administrative detention [2] for terror suspects and a total migration-stop, are no longer a taboo [taboe]


A capitulation for his reprehensible ideas, also by the mainstream of the ruling politicians, is lethally dangerous

Therefore, resistance against his views and remarks is of the utmost importance


I have written [under C] the underlying Letter to the Editor, which has been sent to a number of Dutch and international papers


Also I inform you about my letter to Mr Wilders [under B], whom I also have sent a copy of my Editor-letter

However, at first I refer to the newsinformation regarding the Wilders-remarks about the Quran [under A]

At the end, I’ll give you the link to my earlier-written article about the views of Mr Wilders, which has been also published by the Belgian critical newsmedium, the Uitpers [www.uitpers.be]


May the struggle against injustice continue

Kind regards

Astrid Essed



Amsterdam, The Netherlands



Notes:
[1] By the last Dutch elections [november 2006] Mr Wilders came into parliament with 9 seats [from the total of 150]


[2] Administrative detention: A detention without charge and trial
This is illegal according International Law and has mostly applied by military dictatorships and authoritarian governments
Also countries like Israel and the USA [with a reference to the situation of the majority of the Guantanamo prisoners and many Iraqi and Afghan war-prisoners] are using this illegal detention-form


A - For the news message about the Wilders ban on the Quran, see:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FAEC4703-83E2-44DA-9DA4-1A7702C354C1.ht

B Letter to Mr Wilders


Dear Mr Wilders,


I want to draw your attention for the following:
Since your withdrawal from the parliamentary section of the Liberal Party [3], I've taken notice of your following political carreer


To my regret and based upon your political remarks, I learnt quickly, that your views are racist and hateprovoking regarding muslims, ''non-western'' foreigners and refugees and asylumseekers


With your recent anti-Quranremarks, in which you have been this Holy Book with ''Mein Kampf'', you have not only crossed a boundary [which is also the case], but also shown the extent of your views By this I sent to you my Letter to the Editor, about your views I think, that it is a question of common decency, to inform you on this way Further I sent to you an article about your views, which has been published in the aprilnumber of the critical Belgian newsmedium, the Uitpers [www.uitpers.be]


I am very glad to hear, that already two Dutch lawyers have lodged a charge against your remarks against the Quran, which hopefully may lead to a judicial verdict As you'll undoubtedly know, under Dutch law, according to article 137, e and d, as well as insult of a population-group, as hateprovoking, are punishable


The maintainance of the fundamental Dutch human rights legislation, which is based on the international human rights treaties, is of the utmost importance


Negligence of those basic rights, which is your point of view, will lead to a non-democratic Dutch State I don't have to refer to the contemporary European history, to remind you of the consequences, in ultimo [4]

With polite regards

Astrid Essed

Amsterdam
The Netherlands


[3] In september 2004, Mr Wilders withdrawed from the parliamentary section of the Liberal Party [The VVD, see http://www.vvd.nl/], because of his view, that Turkey should be excluded, under all circumstances, from EU membership [so regardless improvements of the human rights situation, which is a condition for EU membership]

[4]

In ultimo: most extreme


C Letter to the Editor
Title: The Quran-ban of Mr Wilders is an act of war against the fundamental principles of human rights Letter to the Editor,

Dear Editor,

I've learnt with indignation about the political call of the Dutch Member of Parliament, Mr Wilders, regarding the ban on the Quran and his comparison of this Holy Book with ''Mein Kampf'', the autobiography of Adolf HitlerDirect cause was the reprehensible mistreatment of Mr Jami, chairman of the union of ex-muslims in the Netherlands However, in the first place this Wilders-proposal is a serious violation on the right to freedom of religion, which is embedded in the Dutch constitutionFurther he is demonizing and criminalizing the muslims in common and in the Netherlands, in particular Secondly, the Quran, as well as the Bible and Torah, are based on the God of Love and respect for all fellow human beings Although a minority of muslims is committing political violence, based on their interpretation of the Quran, this is also the case regarding the christians and Jews Notorious examples are the bomb-attacks by American christian-fundamentals on abortion-clinics and the committed violence of religious fanatical Jewish-Israeli settlers, regarding the occupied Palestinian civilian population [often based on certain chapters of the Old Testimony]

However, as the majority of christian-fundamentals and orthodox Jews, the majority of orthodox muslims are apolitic and peaceful, which has been confirmed by American anti-terror experts Thirdly Mr Wilders has a racist point of view, by referring, in general, to ''criminal muslims'', and also to ''criminal foreigners'' Recently, in connection of suspects of a stabbing-crime, he referred to ''three animals of Carribean descent''

It is clear, that Mr Wilders is as well provoking hatred, as racism.Therefore, his views are a serious treath to the principles of the Dutch democracy Astrid Essed Amsterdam

D Reference to my article about Mr Wilders in the april number of the Uitpers [www.uitpers.be]
See
http://baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/14985/index.php

Deadly Cholera Outbreaks in Iraq

CONSEQUENCES OF THE DESTRUCTION AND OCCUPATION OF IRAQ BY THE NEO COLONIALISTS

OCCUPIED IRAQ = HELL ON EARTH

ESTIMATED IRAQI DEATHS DUE TO U.S. INVASION : 1.028.360

http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html
A report by the UK-based charity, Oxfam, and the NGO Co-ordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI) last month warned that 70% of Iraq's population did not have adequate water supplies and that only 20% had access to effective sanitation.

An outbreak of cholera in Suleymaniyah and Kerkuk has killed eight people and infected many others.

"Serious problems with water quality and sewage treatment, worsened by crumbling local infrastructure, are being blamed".

La communauté internationale tarde à agir pour aider les irakiens

La communauté internationale reste indifférente aux souffrances du peuple irakien sous occupation impérialiste anglo-saxonne.

IRAKIENS MORTS A CAUSE DE L'OCCUPATION : 1.028.360
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html

POINT DE PRESSE QUOTIDIEN DU BUREAU DE LA PORTE-PAROLE DU SECRÉTAIRE GÉNÉRAL DE L’ONU: 29 AOÛT 2007

http://www.un.org/News/fr-press/docs/2007/dbf070829.doc.htm

Épidémie de choléra en Iraq

La Mission d’assistance des Nations Unies pour l’Iraq (MANUI) est en train d’appuyer une équipe de l’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) qui répond à une demande du Gouvernement de l’Iraq visant à aider les personnes affectées par une irruption de choléra à Sulaymaniyah, une ville du nord du pays. À ce jour, les autorités de la ville ont confirmé quelque 5 000 cas de choléra depuis le 10 août, dont cinq morts. Dix autres décès ont été constatés dans la ville voisine de Kirkuk où environ 50 personnes sont traitées pour des complications liées au choléra.

Le 26 août, l’équipe de la MANUI et de l’OMS a commencé les investigations sur l’irruption du choléra, ceci à la demande du Ministre kurde iraquien de la santé. L’équipe a indiqué qu’au moins deux hôpitaux de la région ont traité quelque 2 000 cas de diarrhée. L’OMS doit installer un système visant à contrôler la qualité de l’eau, à inspecter la nourriture, et à rechercher et à gérer les nouveaux cas, alors que le Fonds des Nations Unies pour l’enfance (UNICEF) compte appuyer les efforts déployés par l’apport d’une thérapie de réhydratation orale.

Réfugiés iraquiens

L’Ambassadrice de bonne volonté du Haut Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés (HCR), Angelina Jolie, a terminé aujourd’hui sa première visite en Iraq et en Syrie où elle a recueilli des témoignages sur l’endurance et le courage extraordinaires des réfugiés iraquiens. Angelina Jolie a dit sa volonté d’attirer l’attention sur la crise humanitaire et a appelé les gouvernements à renforcer leur appui au HCR et à ses partenaires.

Dans le camp de fortune d’Al Waleed à l’intérieur de l’Iraq, Angelina Jolie s’est promenée entre les tentes dans une zone délabrée dépourvue d’eau courante, d’électricité et où les réfugiés ne connaissent aucun répit face à la chaleur du désert. Elle a passé beaucoup de temps avec des enfants et des personnes âgées malades et a inspecté un site où le HCR est en train de construire une école pour les enfants des 1 300 réfugiés.

mercredi 29 août 2007

Une extermination qui ne dit pas son nom

Enfant victime de l'Uranium appauvri (DU) en Irak

Cette vidéo en anglais décrit les relevés radioactifs effectués par des japonais en Irak.
For video (in English) describing the radioactive level recordings made by the Japanese in Iraq please click on the following link:

Cliquer sur :
http://www.convergencedescauses.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=968

Extrait:
En 1990, l’Autorité à l’Energie Atomique du Royaume Uni (UKAEA) écrivit un rapport avertissant de la catastrophe potentielle pour la santé et l’environnement de l’utilisation des armes à uranium appauvri. Les effets sur la santé étaient connus depuis longtemps. Le rapport envoyé au Gouvernement du Royaume Uni avertissait « dans leur estimation, si 50 tonnes de poussière résiduelle d’UA restent « dans la région » il pourrait y avoir un demi million de cancers en plus à la fin du siècle [2000]. »
Les estimations d’armes à uranium appauvri utilisées en 1991, vont maintenant de 325 tonnes admises par le Pentagone, à 900 tonnes selon d’autres corps scientifiques. Cela porterait l’estimation du nombre de cancers à 9.000.000, selon la quantité utilisée pendant la guerre du Golfe de 1991.

Dans la guerre du Golfe de 2003, des estimations de 2.200 tonnes ont été données – causant à peu près 22.000.000 de nouveaux cas de cancer. Dans son ensemble, le nombre total de patients atteints de cancer estimé en utilisant les données de l’UKAEA serait de 25.250.000.

Ironiquement, la résolution 661 de l’ONU appelant à des sanctions contre l’Irak, a été signée le jour anniversaire d’Hiroshima, le 6 août 1990 (extrait http://www.uruknet.info/?p=8856).

Décrit comme le Cheval de Troie de la guerre nucléaire, l’uranium appauvri est l’arme qui continue à détruire. La demie-vie de l’uranium-238 est de 4.5 milliards d’années, l’age de la Terre. Et, comme l’uranium-238 dégénère en sous-produits radioactifs, en quatre étapes avant de se transformer en graphite, il continue d’émettre plus de radiations à chaque étape. Il n’y a pas moyen de l’arrêter, et il n’y a pas moyen de le nettoyer.
Il s’accorde avec la propre définition du Gouvernement US des Armes de Destruction Massive.
Après la formation de microscopiques et nanoscopiques particules insolubles d’oxyde d’uranium sur le champ de bataille, celles-ci restent suspendues dans l’air et voyagent autour de la Terre comme composantes radioactives de la poussière cosmique, contaminant l’environnement, tuant sans discrimination, mutilant et causant des maladies à tout ce qui vit là où la pluie, la neige et l’humidité les prélèvent de l’atmosphère.

La contamination radioactive mondiale issue des essais atmosphériques équivalait à 40.000 bombes d’Hiroshima, et elle continue à contaminer l’atmosphère et la basse altitude aujourd’hui. La quantité de pollution de basse-radioactivité à l’uranium appauvri depuis 1991 est de nombreuses fois supérieure (déposée à l’intérieur du corps) aux retombées émises lors des tests atmosphériques.- Les conséquences mortelles des armes à l'Uranium Appauvri utilisées en Irak reconnues par le Pentagon. http://www.planetenonviolence.org/Video-Veterans-US-et-Uranium-Appauvri-UA-_a1294.html?print=1 -UA-_a1294.html?print=1

Publié le 11 août 2007 par Convergence des Causes

lundi 27 août 2007

Iraqi Turkmens' appeal to the EU decision makers


IRAQI TURKMENS APPEAL TO THE EU DECISION MAKERS

The Turkmens are the third main ethnic group in Iraq and the second main ethnic group in the north of Iraq. Their population is estimated at 3 million (12% of the Iraqi population).
Northern Iraq has been the homeland of the Iraqi Turkmens for over a millennium. The Turkmen region TURKMENELI lies between the Arab and Kurdish regions of Iraq, it stretches from Tel Afer in northern Iraq near the Syrian border to Mendeli near the Iranian border. The Turkmen population in Iraq is concentrated in the Provinces of Musul, Erbil, Kerkuk, Salaheddin, Dyala and Baghdad. Their biggest concentration is in Kerkuk, their capital city and main cultural centre since more than 800 years. Turkmens have played a constructive and important role in Mesopotamia (Iraq) where they established states and principalities and governed the region during centuries.
Since the creation of the Iraqi State in 1921 as a consequence of World War One which caused the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the inclusion of the actual north of Iraq (Musul Vilayati) into the Iraqi State, the Turkmens are systematically discriminated, marginalized and oppressed in Iraq for geopolitical and economical reasons as the Turkmen region contains huge oil and gas reserves, concentrated around Kerkuk, Telafer and Khanaqeen. For these economical and geopolitical reasons the successive Iraqi governments have tried to assimilate the Turkmens and purposely underestimated their number and true representation in Iraq, considering them as a small minority.
Since the occupation of Iraq by the Anglo-American forces on 9th April 2003 the situation of the Turkmens has deteriorated even more and more dramatically as a result of the U.S. decision to allow the Kurdish parties (KDP and PUK) and their militia to penetrate, occupy and control Kerkuk and all other important Turkmen towns and cities of the Turkmen region, as a reward for their collaboration during the invasion of Iraq. Since then, the Turkmens are subjected to even harsher policies of discrimination, marginalization and oppression, but this time by the Kurdish Parties which are now controlling the entire north of Iraq and for the same economical and geopolitical reasons.
The Kurds claim that Kerkuk is a Kurdish city; they are now actively busy kurdifying it, their aim is to annex Kerkuk to the Kurdish Autonomous Region in order to benefit alone from its oil and gas wealth. To achieve this goal the Kurdish parties have brought over 600.000 Kurds from the Kurdish autonomous region as well as from Syria, Iran and Turkey and settled them in Kerkuk and its surroundings, some of them in the houses vacated by fleeing Arabs, some others in government buildings, military camps, military personnel housing and compounds in and around Kerkuk and the remaining are still waiting in their makeshift houses and slums established on the lands belonging to the Turkmens. All of this is in preparation to annex Kerkuk to the Kurdish region through a referendum at the end of 2007 called for by the infamous Article 140, which was conceived and written by the Kurds and which has been incorporated under the pressure of their lobby in the “New Iraqi Constitution”.
For the above reasons, Turkmens denounce the Kurdish hegemony in the north of Iraq as well as Kurdish influence and manipulations of Iraqi politics since 2003, they reject Article 140, they are against the annexation of Kerkuk and other Turkmen town and cities to the Kurdish Autonomous Region, they demand the revision of the New Iraqi Constitution in order to be recognized as the third main community in Iraq, with rights equal to those obtained by the Arabs and the Kurds.
The recent appalling attacks on the Turkmens in Amirli, Kerkuk, Tel Afar and Daquq demonstrate that the unarmed Turkmens are being targeted and that they are more vulnerable today than ever before in their long history in Iraq. Therefore, they are calling on the European Union and the United Nations to ask their urgent help, support and protection in order to obtain their rights, achieve their objectives and preserve the existence of their community and their culture in Iraq.


Dr. Hassan Aydinli
Iraqi Turkmen Front European Representative - Belgium

and
President of the Committee for the Defence of the Iraqi Turkmen Rights – Belgium

Brussels, 27th August 2007

Appeal from the Iraqi Turkmen Front European Representation and from the Committee for the Defence of the Iraqi Turkmen Rights in Belgium

TURKMENELI is indicated in blue on the map
IRAQI TURKMEN FRONT EUROPEAN REPRESENTATION AND THE COMMITTEE FOR THE DEFENCE OF THE IRAQI TURKMEN RIGHTS IN BELGIUM ARE APPEALING TO THE EUROPEAN AUTHORITIES AND DECISION MAKERS TO CONDEMN THE MARGINALIZATION, THE DISCRIMINATION AND THE CONTINUED HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS OF THE TURKMENS IN 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 to be 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, as indicated in blue on the map above.

The Turkmens being the only ethnic group in Iraq without any weapons or armed militia are left without any protection; they are extremely vulnerable in the actual violent situation prevailing in their country. Since the occupation of Iraq by the US-UK forces in March 2003 the situation of the Turkmens has dramatically deteriorated they are constantly targeted and have suffered a huge number of casualties in Telafer, in Tuz Hurmatu, in Tisin, in Tavik in Amirli and in Kerkuk.

As the Turkmens are unarmed and unprotected, they are vulnerable and are targeted every day in Iraq. They are therefore in urgent need of the help and protection from the international community, especially from the European Union and the United Nations, in order to obtain the recognition of their basic human rights and to preserve the existence of their community in Iraq.


Dr. Hassan T. Walli Aydinli
e-mail: htwalli@skynet.be

IRAQI TURKMENS DEMONSTRATE IN BRUSSELS
















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




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




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






samedi 25 août 2007

"Out with the old, in with the old" by Nermeen Al-Mufti

The "new" coalition government in Iraq looks the same, only more sectarian, suggests Nermeen Al-Mufti
________________________________________
Will the quadripartite coalition that brought together the Higher Islamic Council of Iraq, Al-Daawa Party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) put the country back on track? Sceptics note that most of the governments formed in Iraq since the occupation were led by those same groups, so what else is new? Apart from those who form the new coalition, few in Iraq seem optimistic. Some officials from the Shia community, even from Al-Daawa Party of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, lashed out at the new coalition.


Iyad Allawi, whose Iraqi List withdrew from Al-Maliki's government, is sceptical. Allawi was excluded -- by an Iranian veto -- from the consultations of key Iraqi parties. He told The Washington Post that the current Iraqi government was doomed despite the "cosmetic" measures now taking place. Allawi said that reconciliation cannot take place under Al-Maliki's "sectarian" regime, calling for a state of emergency to be declared in Baghdad and other turbulent areas. Izzat Al-Shabandar, a parliamentarian for the Iraqi List, said that "the quadripartite coalition that was formed last week is a pre-emptive measure aiming to undermine efforts to form a non-sectarian government."

Within Al-Daawa, supporters of Ibrahim Al-Jaafari failed to endorse the new coalition. Only Al-Maliki's supporters within Al-Daawa back the coalition, an associate of Al-Jaafari said. Mazin Makkeya of Al-Daawa (Tanzim Al-Iraq) said that the new coalition is "sectarian and racist."

Nadim Al-Jaber, secretary-general of Al-Fadila, said that the quadripartite coalition was "stillborn and cannot achieve the goals it has set for itself". Other Iraqi parties will be trying to "create a counter-coalition," he added. "Kurdish parties signed this agreement because they want the central government to remain weak. That's what the Kurds want. The failure to include the Islamic Party in the coalition makes the coalition sectarian and racistâ" Al-Jaber noted.

The Iraq Turkmen Front issued a statement saying that "the parties to the coalition are part of Iraq's problem, part of the stifling political crisis. So they cannot be part of the solution."

The Sadr Group, which was excluded from the consultations that led to the coalition, is now seeking to form a rival coalition, said parliamentarian Nasser Al-Saeidi.

Omar Abdel-Sattar, parliamentarian for the Sunni Accordance Front and a key figure of the Islamic Party, noted that the party stayed away from the coalition because of its sectarian nature. "We were opposed to joining the coalition because the formation of such fronts wouldn't resolve the crisis but only exacerbate sectarian and factional divisions. The quadripartite agreement would keep in government the same people who failed to offer the Iraqis anything of substance," Abdel-Sattar said. He predicted that more rival coalitions and fronts would be formed, noting that "efforts are underway to reconcile the Accordance Front, the Iraqi List, Al-Fadila Party, and the Sadr Group." Abdel-Sattar noted that the Islamic Party is keeping an equal distance from all political parties and not inclined to take part in any new front.

Tarek Al-Hashimi, Iraq's vice-president and secretary of the Islamic Party, has met with the leaders of the quadripartite coalition. A source close to Al-Hashimi said that attempts were made to persuade Al-Hashimi to withdraw from the Sunni Alliance Front, but he refused. Salim Abdallah, parliamentarian and spokesman of the Islamic Party's Political Bureau, told reporters that the Islamic Party received no invitation to meet with the leaders of the quadripartite coalition, but Al-Hashimi attended the meeting at the last minute. The meeting "focused on finding a new way of collective decision making and looked into government performance, security reform, and the matter of the detainees," Abdallah added.

Top Shia cleric Ayatollah Al-Sistani is now a fierce critic of Al-Maliki. A source close to Al-Sistani said that the cleric was "very disappointed with the government performance and with the parliament, especially with those politicians who used his support as a stepping stone for key political posts in the government and who control decision making in parliament." The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Al-Sistani told his aides that certain politicians "used my name to control the government and the parliament" and proceeded to drive the country into disaster. Al-Sistani was quoted as saying that they "filled my face with pus" the same words Imam Ali, the fourth caliph, used in reference to his opponents.

President Bush criticised Al-Maliki in his weekly speech, noting that the Iraqi government failed to do its job. US Ambassador Ryan Crocker also maintained that "the Kurdish-Shia coalition couldn't resolve Iraq's problem on its own."
Dr. Jenan Ali, an expert in Iraqi politics, told Al-Ahram Weekly that "the quadripartite coalition is not a front of the moderates, as it is trying to present itself, but is an extremist sectarian and racist coalition with narrow partisan interests and special agendas." Ali added that "the Kurds are trying to impede the amendment of Article 140, a controversial article of the constitution that would allow them to annex Kirkuk and control 17 percent of Iraqi oil revenue."
The Shia parties that joined the coalition are not representative of all Shia and their only purpose is to keep Al-Maliki in government at any price, she added.

Meanwhile, living conditions continue to deteriorate in Iraq. The recent bombings in Singar, which killed 500 of the Yazidi community, cast a shadow on the country. Commentator Talal Barakat wrote that "before levelling accusations, it is necessary to investigate properly and to ask ourselves: who benefits from such incidents?"

Iraqi satellite channels repeatedly aired a video of a visit by vice-presidents Al-Hashimi and Adel Abdel-Mahdi to a detention centre run by the Iraqi Interior Ministry. The report shows hundreds of detainees in narrow metal cages covered with white plastic sheets. Most of the detainees said that they hadn't appeared in court. Among the detainees was a crippled man arrested for being a "terrorist sniper." Another was an elderly man, who could barely talk, also detained for being a "terrorist." A man was shown weeping as he recalled the killing of his four sons in front of his eyes prior to his detention on charges of "terrorism." Tens of thousands of detainees are believe to be held in detention centres operated by the interior and defence ministries and the government of the north. According to unofficial reports, Iraq has 48,000 detainees at present. But the Interior Ministry only admits to 3,200 detainees. The failure to release the detainees was the reason the ministers of the Sunni Alliance Front resigned from the government.

Vice-President Al-Hashimi promised the detainees that he would seek their release, noting that more than 200 detainees had been released so far. Al-Hashimi described the detention as "disgraceful for all of us." And yet he told the detainees that "people outside are not doing better than you. You're lucky, at least you have security here. People outside are afraid for their lives." Reuters quoted Brigadier General Gomaah Zamer, the warden of the detention centre appearing in the video saying that the centre, which held 2,279 inmates, was opened a month ago to relieve the pressure on other crowded prisons across the country.

© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/859/re73.htm

Previous article by Nermeen Al-Mufti:
Al-Maliki's days are numbered

Nermeen Al-Mufti interviews two families who have lost everything and ponders the fate of PM Al-Maliki who also looks like he might lose all as the Iraqi political process implodes

Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki is a man with few friends these days. Many blame him for the current political crisis triggered by successive resignations of major political groups from his cabinet. Six ministers of the Sunni Accordance Front have left the cabinet. This was followed by the resignation of the justice minister, the withdrawal of the five pro-Sadr ministers, and the boycott of the cabinet by the four ministers of the Iraqi List. One man, however, seems to support Al-Maliki. Iranian President Ahmadinejad, speaking the day after meeting the prime minister, said that "critics of the Iraqi government are corrupt." Al-Maliki refused to comment on that remark, but other politicians were incensed.

Iyad Gamaleddin, a parliamentarian from the Iraqi List, said that "Iraq is an independent country and no one has the right to interfere in its affairs. The government and the opposition are all Iraqis and outsiders have no right to interfere in our politics." Several parliamentarians said that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statements were a "violation" of Iraqi sovereignty.

Some analysts, however, were more sceptical. Jenan Ali, a professor at Baghdad University specialising in Iraqi affairs, said that "the outrage [over Ahmadinejad's statement] is farcical, for Iraqi sovereignty has been shattered by the occupation forces and by regional interference. President Bush says that Iran is a destabilising force in Iraq. But some Iraqi politicians maintain that Saudi Arabia and Syria are also destabilising Iraq."

Last week, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1770, which called for the Iraqi constitution to be amended for the sake of reconciliation among all Iraqis. Commenting on the resolution, Ali said that "Resolution 1770 is an indictment of Al-Maliki. The fact that President Bush approved that resolution indicates that there is a chance the occupation forces may leave the country after all."

As political parties continued consultations aimed at breaking the deadlock, the Iraqi prime minister went on a visit to Ankara and Tehran. The Kurdish administration in the north was displeased by Al-Maliki's promise to expel the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) from the country. "The government of the Kurdistan Province rejects categorically any military operation targeting the PKK in our areas, and we had an agreement to this effect with Al-Maliki before he left for Turkey."

Other politicians criticised Al-Maliki's visit to Tehran, noting that it came on the day some Iraqis still celebrate as a day of "victory" over Iran. The newspaper Al-Zaman quoted Al-Maliki as saying in a news conference that he didn't know when the eight-year war with Iran ended.

Speaking at a news conference in Baghdad, Al-Maliki said that "a meeting on the level of political leaders would be held on my request to introduce necessary reforms to the political process." Al-Maliki added that a preparatory committee has been working on the agenda of the meeting and that several "strategic issues" would be discussed.

As for the Accordance Front's withdrawal from the cabinet and the conditions the AF set for returning to cabinet meetings, Al-Maliki said that "those requests would be considered, and some may be implemented in keeping with the provisions of the constitution." He noted, however, that some requests were "impossible" to meet.

Speaking at a news conference in Baghdad, AF leader Adnan Al-Deleimi accused Shia militia and "death squads" of displacing and murdering Sunni families in some parts of Baghdad. He called on Arab leaders to intervene. "Your brothers are coming under the worst types of injustice and persecution, unprecedented in the old or new history or Iraq. They are coming under a Safawi [Iranian] assault aiming to uproot the Sunnis from Baghdad. Cemeteries have no more room for our dead. There are more than 80,000 detainees in the prisons of the government and the occupation forces. People are thrown in prison just for being Sunni," he said.

Sheikh Ali Al-Hatim, a clan leader in Al-Anbar, said that he and other members of the Anbar Salvation Council were considering candidates for the cabinet seats vacated by AF ministers. "Those posts should be filled with alternative candidates," he said, adding that the AF didn't represent Iraq's Sunnis or do much for them." Meanwhile, Badr Hadi Al-Amiri, a parliamentarian for the Shia Alliance Block, said that the current crisis was "acute and real".

Commenting on the Iraqiya Block, which former interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is putting together, MP Osama Al-Nojeifi, who represents Iraqiya in the parliament, explained that the project aimed at cementing national unity and getting the country away from sectarianism. "Unlike the Kurds, who have their own project and emphasise Kurdish nationalism in their statements, the National Iraqi Front urges national unity among all Iraqis," Allawi said.

Kurdistan leader Masoud Al-Barzani arrived in Baghdad Saturday night for talks with President Jalal Talabani ahead of a meeting of the leaders of political groups and independent figures, which is scheduled to take place within days. According to well-informed sources, Iraqi leaders will ask Al-Maliki either to resign or to accept a four-way leadership of himself, President Talabani, vice-presidents Adel Abdul-Mahdi and Tareq Al-Hashimi. Allawi will not attend the meeting because Al-Maliki did not send an invitation to him due to an Iranian veto .

A source close to Al-Maliki said that the prime minister may have to appoint Sunni ministers in order to keep the government going. His other option would be to form a government of parliamentary majority, which would include the Unified Iraqi Alliance, the Kurdistan Alliance, and independent parliamentarians.

Political analyst Alaa Al-Hodeithi voiced fears that a government of parliamentary majority may give Kurdish leaders a chance to impose their conditions on Al-Maliki. The Kurds want a referendum on Kirkuk before the end of the year, something that other Iraqis, especially the Turkmen, oppose.

The cities of the south, especially Al-Basra, are experiencing a new surge of violence as rival militia try to control oil field and the harbours. The governor of Al-Diwaniya, 180km south of Baghdad, was killed by explosive charges planted by "unidentified" perpetrators. The governor was a key figure in Badr forces and had fought against elements of the deposed regime before 2003. His police chief and six of his bodyguards were killed in the same attack.

The flood has begun
About two million Iraqis had to leave their homes because of sectarian fighting. Some now live in makeshift camps. Others have moved to rented flats or live with relatives and friends. They feel forgotten, not only by their own government but by the international community.

Abu Amna, an Iraqi Sunni, had to flee his hometown of Khan Bani Saad in the turbulent Al-Diyali Governorate. He now lives with relatives in Baghdad. This is his story:
"My family and 40 other Sunni families have received threats. We were a minority amid a Shia majority. The strangest thing is that the man who threatened me was my childhood friend, a man who appears in the photos of my wedding. I couldn't believe that the ethnic and sectarian division that took place in Iraq would affect our long-time friendship. We lived our whole lives together, never asking which sect we followed. The threatening letter came in an envelope thrown at our doorstep. We were asked to leave the area within 24 hours. We decided to leave, but my father refused to abandon a home that he spent his younger years saving money to build. So my mother sent my sisters to my uncle's house in Baquba. We, three brothers and their families, decided to go to Baghdad to live with relatives. I live in the house of my uncle, who is also my father-in-law. My two brothers found no work or accommodation in Baghdad, so one of them took his family to Kirkuk and the other went to Baquba to be near relatives. My mother insisted on staying with my father. He was killed in front of her eyes less than one month after we left. The friend who shared my childhood, the friend with whom I went to school and who was my playmate, now lives in our house. I still remember the last night I spent in the house where I was born, where my daughter and son were also born. That night I didn't speak with any member of the family. I was walking around the house committing its details to memory, wondering if I would ever see it again.
"My brother who went to Baquba started working with my uncle in the market. My other brother who went to Kirkuk worked as a taxi driver. I started working as a driver using my own car. I work but I am always in fear, although I carry several forged identification cards and use them according to the area I am in. I always work in the areas I am familiar with because my licence plates are from Diyali, so I always get stopped at checkpoints. I face suspicions because I come from a turbulent city and have no immigrant papers. I can't get immigrant papers because Baghdad already has too many immigrants. So I don't dare ask for a ration card or to get my residence changed from Diyali to Baghdad. My brother who went to Kirkuk has immigrant papers. He received assistance in the form of one blanket and a single-bed mattress, although he has a family of five. He, like hundreds of thousands of immigrants, doesn't have a ration card and has been waiting for over 10 months to receive new identification papers."

Abu Amna doesn't care much for the political crisis. He said that anarchy killed his father, destroyed his country, and massacred his dreams. The political crisis is merely a symptom of the anarchy introduced by the occupation forces. He adds: "Everyday before I leave the house, I pray and I kiss my children and wife as if I am kissing them for the last time. No Iraqi who leaves his house in the morning knows if he shall return or not. We are not heroes to be working in these conditions, but we have to live so long as life goes on. I wonder who will help us return to our home, our life, and our dreams. Who will help us live, even for one hour, without fear?"

Abu Ammar is a Shia journalist who was driven out of his house in Al-Ghazaliya, a turbulent Baghdad neighbourhood that has been walled off. This is his story:
"Everyone knows that I spent eight years building my house. We, the Sunnis and the Shias, lived in amity side by side. My Sunni neighbour used to guard the building material that would remain stacked for months at the building site. When I and my family moved in, Sunni families kept bringing us food for a whole week, every single meal, despite the severity of the blockade. About 10 months ago, a letter was posted at my door asking me to leave the area, or else. I didn't pay much attention, for the neighbours know me well and they know also that I am against the occupation and write in support of the unity of Iraq regardless of race and ethnicity. At noon the next day, someone knocked at the door. I opened to find six masked men asking me to leave the house immediately and without any of my belongings. I wanted to argue, but one of them said that no arguments were allowed and that I had to leave the house with my family immediately. They allowed us to take our clothes and personal belongings and nothing else. When we were about to leave, a family walked in to live in the house. The father asked me for forgiveness and permission to live in my house. I refused. 'How can I agree to being kicked out of my house so that you may move in?' He told me that a group of my own sect kicked him out of his house. 'This wasn't my fault,' I said. 'It is not your fault and it is mine, someone has taken my house,' he said.
"We were split among relatives. My six children went to live with uncles in Al-Kadhimiya. My wife went to stay with her brother, also in Al-Kadhimiya. I move between my sons and my wife to make sure they are fine. I am thinking of leaving Iraq, but where to? Iraqi immigrants are suffering from difficulties either in neighbouring countries or in other places. I miss my home. I miss the smile that I left behind at one of its corners. I miss my library and the archive that I put together in 30 years of working as a journalist. I miss the night gatherings with the neighbours, who still call me to make sure I am fine. I haven't changed my ration card, and I can't risk going to Al-Ghazaliya to get the monthly ration. I wrote a lot about the immigrants' crisis and their hard life. And yet, we who live in rented places or with relatives are better off than those who have to live in camps whose children can't go to school. I don't expect much from a world that is watching our pain in silence. I don't care whether Al-Maliki's government continues or not. No official is thinking about the Iraqis. They all think of themselves. They think of how to save Bush, who has a report to submit to the congress in mid-September."

© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/858/re71.htm

Bernard Kouchner à Bagdad - 3 Questions à Gilles Munier

Gilles Munier
Secrétaire-général des Amitiés franco-irakiennes



Bernard Kouchner à Bagdad
« Une goutte de pétrole vaut une goutte de sang» disait Clemenceau…
Bernard Kouchner à Bagdad

3 questions à Gilles Munier (*)
(« 7 Jours » - Rennes - 25 août 2007)


Bernard Kouchner vient d’effectuer un voyage officiel à Bagdad. Est-ce un tournant de la politique arabe de la France ?

Apparemment oui. Avec Bernard Kouchner aux Affaires étrangères, il fallait s’y attendre. Une nouvelle politique arabe est en marche. C’est une politique pro américaine.

Alors qu’on parle de désengagement britannique d’Irak, que l’opinion américaine réclame le retour des GI’s, comment expliquer cette main française tendue au gouvernement irakien?

Les Etats-Unis cherchent un pays occidental qui prenne leur relais en Irak, sous couvert d’une mission de paix de l’ONU par exemple. Ils veulent quitter Bagdad sans être humiliés. Mais, il est trop tard, il y a eu trop de massacres. Les Etats-Unis veulent aussi que la France soutienne la création d’un Etat kurde. Pour cela, Bernard Kouchner, ami des chefs féodaux kurdes depuis plus de 30 ans, est « l’homme qu’il faut à la place qu’il faut ».

Quels intérêts la France peut-elle tirer de ce changement de politique ?

A long terme : aucun, et comme le court terme est miné, je ne vois pas ce que la France irait faire dans cette galère. En revanche, je vois bien à quoi tout le monde pense: au pétrole ! Début août, la compagnie américaine Chevron a accepté que Total prospecte avec elle le champ pétrolifère de Majnoun, attribué à Elf du temps de Saddam Hussein, dont les réserves sont estimées à 12 milliards de barils. La création d’un « Grand Kurdistan », englobant notamment la région de Kirkouk et le Djebel Sindjar, ferait du nouvel Etat une puissance pétrolière de première grandeur, amie de l’Occident et d’Israël.

Georges Clemenceau disait après la 1ère guerre mondiale : « Désormais, une goutte de pétrole a la valeur d'une goutte de sang ». C’est toujours d’actualité. A l’époque, Kirkouk et le Sindjar faisaient partie du wilayet de Mossoul. On s’y battait déjà pour du pétrole. Ce mois-ci, la guerre du pétrole a fait dans ces deux régions près de 650 morts et des centaines de blessés, en quatre attentats non revendiqués. Qui pourrait être assez fou pour impliquer militairement la France dans le chaos irakien ?
Si le régime change à nouveau à Bagdad, tous les contrats signés depuis l’invasion de 2003 seront annulés. On ferait mieux de relancer l’idée de Michel Barnier, quand il était ministre des AE, d’organiser une conférence internationale pour la paix en Irak, à laquelle participerait officiellement la résistance irakienne. Et pourquoi pas la tenir à Paris ?

(*) Gilles Munier est Secrétaire-général des Amitiés franco-irakiennes depuis 1986 et auteur du « Guide de l’Irak » paru chez Jean Picollec Ed. – gilmun@club-internet.fr

ELS KURDS VOLEN CANVIAR LA DEMOGRAFIA DEL NORD

Mofak Salman, representant del Partit Turkmeneli a Irlanda i el Regne Unit

ENTREVISTA: Mofak Salman

"Els kurds volen canviar la demografia del nord"
DENÚNCIA · "Som víctimes de campanyes més brutals que les que va perpetrar Saddam" OBJECTIU · "Els turcmans de l'Iraq volem tenir un Estat federal amb capital a Kirkuk"

Jordi Llaonart

El dirigent del Partit Turkmeneli Mofak Salman al seu despatx AVUI

Els turcmans formen la tercera comunitat cultural iraquiana, després de l'àrab i la kurda, però denuncien que des de l'inici de la transició se'ls ha marginat del poder. L'AVUI ha demanat a Mofak Salman, representant del Partit Turkmeneli a Irlanda i el Regne Unit, que expliqui com veu la situació de les regions turcmanes de l'Iraq i l'escalada de tensió amb els seus veïns kurds.

Els turcmans van denunciar en les darreres eleccions una suposada campanya d'intimidació dels peixmergues kurds que va impedir que votessin milers de persones. ¿Ha millorat la situació de la seva comunitat des d'aleshores?

No. La situació dels turcmans no ha millorat. De fet, no ha canviat des de la fi del règim de Saddam Hussein. Amb tot, el 2003 vam dipositar les nostres esperances en l'administració interina establerta després de la caiguda del dictador perquè volíem que es fessin realitat la democràcia, la justícia, la fi de la discriminació, la fi de la violència i que se'ns reconegués el dret d'autodeterminació. Malauradament, ens hem trobat que ha passat tot el contrari, especialment en el terreny dels drets humans, i ara som víctimes de campanyes kurdes més brutals que les que va perpetrar Saddam Hussein contra el poble kurd. No obstant, els plans per canviar la demografia del nord de l'Iraq són implementats obertament i sense cap vacil·lació perquè els kurds tenen el suport de les tropes nord-americanes.

¿La creació d'una regió federal turcmana garantiria la seguretat del poble turcman?

Sí, esclar. L'Estat Federal de Turkmeneli és una de les nostres demandes i si el sistema federal s'apliqués correctament, els turcmans ja gaudiríem de la nostra regió autònoma, com els altres grups ètnics que tenen la seva. Turkmeneli també garantiria la llibertat de les minories ètniques que hi visquessin.

Quina solució proposa el seu partit per resoldre la disputa pel control de Kirkuk que enfronta turcmans, kurds i àrabs?

La immensa majoria de partits, intel·lectuals i organitzacions culturals turcmanes estan d'acord que Kirkuk ha de tenir un estatus especial perquè l'actual situació ens hi obliga, ja que la nostra pàtria està ocupada per dues forces: les nord-americanes i les milícies kurdes. Personalment, crec que l'estatus especial per a Kirkuk només seria una solució temporal, perquè el que volem els turcmans és tenir un Estat federal amb capital a Kirkuk.

¿Creu que l'onada d'atemptats contra els turcmans, com el del mes passat que va fer 153 morts a Amirli, és la prova que s'han convertit en un dels objectius prioritaris d'Al-Qaida?

La massacre d'Amirli no va sorprendre els turcmans, i no la podem considerar com l'inici d'una campanya terrorista perquè és la darrera d'una cadena d'agressions iniciada temps enrere, com l'eliminació de la comunitat turcmana de Tal Afar, l'opressió dels turcmans a Arbela per part de la milícia del Partit Democràtic del Kurdistan i els nombrosos atacs contra els nostres intel·lectuals i les nostres organitzacions.

Per què creu que els mitjans de comunicació estrangers ignoren la situació i les demandes dels turcmans?

Els turcmans sempre hem considerat que les tropes nord-americanes són d'ocupació i no d'alliberament. Aleshores, és lògic que els ocupants ens vegin com a enemics i no es preocupin de les nostres demandes. Per això els EUA tampoc no ens han atorgat drets culturals, polítics i econòmics en la legislació que ens van imposar, que declara que l'Iraq està format només per àrabs i kurds, ignorant que la Constitució de 1932 clarament recull que l'Iraq el formen àrabs, kurds i turcmans. Les informacions que us arriben formen part d'un gran pla que preveu la substitució dels turcmans per kurds arribats de fora de l'Iraq o d'altres parts del país. Ens vam quedar de pedra quan vam sentir que la popular cadena nord-americana CNN va informar que les víctimes de l'explosió d'Amirli eren kurds, quan tothom sap que la població en aquest districte és turcmana i que allà no hi viu ni un sol kurd.

vendredi 3 août 2007

ITF Representative in Europe denounces and condemns the targeted attacks on the Turkmens in Iraq

Hassan Aydinli, ITF Europe Representative

COMMUNIQUE

The Iraqi Turkmen Front Representative in Europe denounces and condemns the daily attacks and the targeted killings of the innocent, unarmed and unprotected Turkmens in Iraq



On Saturday July 28th 2007 the office of the Iraqi Turkmen Front ‘ITF’ in the Turkmen town of YENGICE has been attacked by ‘unidentified gunmen’ and once again innocent Iraqi Turkmens have been targeted, attacked, injured and killed for no reason other than they are Turkmens.

The attacks on the Turkmen community of Iraq have dramatically increased lately and are getting more and more dramatic and deadly since the invasion and the occupation of Iraq by the US and the UK in March 2003 as the invasion and occupation forces have destroyed the Iraqi State, destabilised the country, brought chaos, destruction, terror all over Iraq and total insecurity to the Turkmen region of the country.

During the last attack on the Turkmens, the ITF Representative in YENGICE, Mr Adnan Rifaat ZILAOU, has been severely injured, his two sons Arkan ZILAOU and Vucdan ZILAOU together with five other ITF members Messrs. Hicran Hameed ASKER, Burhan Hameed ASKER, Akeel Hameed ASKER, Haşım Hasan ASKER and Fayaad ABDELKHALIK have been killed.

Besides Mr Adnan Rifaat ZILAOU, the ITF Representative in YENGICE, five other Turkmens have been wounded and they are still hospitalised.

The targeted attack on Turkmens in YENGICE took place only two weeks after another terrible attack on the Turkmens in KERKUK which killed more than 100 and wounded over 250 innocent civilians.

These two criminal attacks followed a third one which took place a week earlier - on 7th July 2007 in AMIRLI, a Turkmen town situated 80 km south of KERKUK - which caused the death of over 140 innocent Turkmens and gravely injured more than 300 of them, destroying their homes, shops and vehicles.

The attack on the Turkmens in AMIRLI was the deadliest attack in the Turkmens’ history since the creation of the Iraqi State in 1921; it was also the single deadliest attacks on Iraqi civilians since the Anglo-American occupation of Iraq in March 2003.

It is to be noted that the attacks on the Turkmens are facilitated by the fact that the Turkmens are the only community of Iraq which is not allowed to have a militia to protect itself and that the Turkmens are forbidden to possess any personal weapons to protect themselves despite the instability and the insecurity which is prevailing in Iraq since March 2003!

The new Iraqi government which was brought in by the occupation powers, known as the ‘Green Zone Government’, is made of a coalition where the Kurdish parties have huge influence and play a central role in the government’s policy and decision making, disproportionate with the true Kurdish representation in Iraq. This government continues to disregard the Turkmens’ needs for self-defence, protection and security in the Turkmen region of Iraq ‘Türkmeneli’ as it remains deaf to the Turkmens’ repeated demands to be recognized as the third main community of Iraq with constitutional rights equal to those recognised to the Arabs and the Kurds of Iraq.

That is why the Turkmen community is vulnerable as it is unarmed, defenceless and unprotected by the Iraqi government and by the occupation powers.

As the Kurdish parties KDP and PUK collaborated with the American forces during the invasion of the north of Iraq the Kurds became the ‘privileged allies’ of the occupation powers which allowed them to occupy the Turkmen towns and cities in the north of Iraq, starting by the Turkmens’ capital city KERKUK which the Kurds want to annex to their autonomous region in the north east of Iraq in order to control its oil wealth.

The Kurds’ collaboration with the occupation powers has also provided them the opportunity to impose their views and advance their political agenda. That is how they managed to include Article 140 in the new Iraqi constitution which calls for a referendum before the end of 2007 to determine the future status of KERKUK.

As the Turkmens are rightfully opposed to the annexation of their historical city KERKUK to the Kurdish autonomous region and as they are against the holding of the referendum called for by Article 140 they are put under huge political pressure by the Kurdish political parties and their militia who are intensifying their threats and attacks on all those who oppose their plans and policies in Iraq, mainly on the Turkmens.

The attacks on the Turkmen cities of TELL AFER, AMIRLI, TUZ KHUMATO, KERKUK, DAQUK, TAZA, YENGICE…have all one thing in common: they are targeting the Turkmens in order to intimidate them and reduce their resistance to Kurdish policies and hegemony in the north of Iraq.

Since the Iraqi government is not willing or is unable to provide adequate security and protection to the Turkmen people in Iraq and as it is not providing the means for the Turkmens to create their own militia to protect themselves, we are calling on the international community and particularly on Iraq’s neighbours, the European Union and the United Nations to put pressure on the Iraqi government to change its policies of neglect concerning the Turkmen community in Iraq and take into consideration without any further delay the needs of the Turkmens for safety and security in their region and give them the means to defend themselves in order to avoid more targeted attacks and killings against them.

If the Iraqi government continues to ignore the Turkmens’ plight and does not fulfil its obligations to the Turkmen community the international community must intervene to fill the vacuum left by the Iraqi government and come to the rescue of the vulnerable and unprotected Turkmens of Iraq.

This is a wake-up call to the Iraqi authorities and an appeal to the international community to stop the discriminatory policies of the Iraqi government against the Turkmens and stop the targeted killings of the Turkmens in Iraq.

Dr Hassan AYDINLI
ITF Europe Representative
Brussels, 30th July 2007

jeudi 2 août 2007

BARZANI CONTINUES TO MAKE FALSE CLAIMS OVER KERKÜK

Barzani talks of 'claiming', 'regaining' and of 'not relinquishing or bargaining over' KERKÜK!!!

Day after day Barzani is showing more and more arrogance and chauvinism and his militia, the peshmerga are terrorizing and killing the unarmed Turkmens in the North of Iraq with the blessing of the US occupation forces, while the US-appointed Iraqi government is uncapable or unwilling to provide protection to the vulnerable Turkmen community.


What historical proof can Barzani give that KERKÜK is a 'Kurdish city', to have the right to "claim" it?
NONE WHATSOEVER, for the simple fact that KERKÜK has NEVER BEEN KURDISH.


Until not so long ago the Kurds in Iraq lived exclusively in the mountains in the North of the country, they were herders and not city people.


I blame the western media, especially the Anglo-Saxon embedded journalists, for diffusing Kurdish propaganda and lies.




Barzani warns of 'civil war' over Kerkük
Thursday, August 2, 2007


The leader of Iraq's semi autonomous Kurdish administration warned Tuesday of a “real civil war” if the central government does not implement a constitutional clause on the future of Kerkük, the oil-rich city claimed by the Kurds.
“The Kurds will never relinquish or bargain over Kerkük, but we accepted to regain Kerkük through constitutional and legal methods, but if we despair of those constitutional and legal methods, then we will have the right to resort to other means,” Barzani warned.
“If clause 140 is not implemented, then there will be a real civil war,” Barzani said, promising to visit Baghdad shortly to discuss the matter with the central government.
Barzani told the television interviewer that Kurdish nationhood was a “reality” rather than a dream. “It's a legitimate right but it must be realized at the suitable time,” Barzani said of establishing a Kurdish nation.

'TURKEY BACKS IRAQ'S INTEGRITY'

Thursday, August 2, 2007
'Turkey backs Iraq's integrity':


Turkey's policy on northern Iraq is clear. Turkey supports Iraq's territorial integrity and the fair distribution of national wealth among Iraqi groups, said former chief of Turkish general Staff, ret. General Hilmi Özkök yesterday in an interview with the Anatolia news agency. Özkök noted that integrity of Iraq is highly important to preserve stability in the whole region.


İZMİR-Anatolia news agency

'TURKEY BACKS IRAQ'S INTEGRITY'

Thursday, August 2, 2007
'Turkey backs Iraq's integrity':
Turkey's policy on northern Iraq is clear. Turkey supports Iraq's territorial integrity and the fair distribution of national wealth among Iraqi groups, said former chief of Turkish general Staff, ret. general Hilmi Özkök yesterday in an interview with the Anatolia news agency. Özkök noted that integrity of Iraq is highly important to preserve stability in the whole region.

İZMİR-Anatolia news agency

mercredi 1 août 2007

تصريح السيد فوزي اكرم ترزي

31-7-2007
تصريح السيد فوزي اكرم ترزي

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
بيان
صرح عضو مجلس النواب العراقي السيد فوزي اكرم ترزي بيانا فيما يلي نصه
منذ امد بعيد ونحن نتطلع للممارسات الظالمة التي مورست بحق الشعب التركماني ، فهي القومية الرئيسية الثالثة في العراق بالامس القريب ارتكبت مجازر عديدة في مدينة كركوك وداقوق وبعدها واقعة ناحية امرلي الجريحة والتي ادت الى استشهاد وجرح المئات من ابناء التركمان البررة دونما ذنب وبعدها قامت مجموعة مسلحة ارهابية بعملية جبانة في مدينة ينكجة التركمانية التابعة لقضاء طوزخورماتوا البطلة بفتح وابل نيرانهم على المواطنين العزل مما ادى الى استشهاد وجرح العشرات من ابناء منطقة ينكجة وللمرة العاشرة وللاسف الشديد وهناك حملة اختطافات واعتقالات واغتيالات مستمرة في كركوك وكافة المناطق التركمانية
ولا يخفى على احد ان ما قدمه التركمان من التضحيات في العهد البائد يأتي في المرتبة الثالثة بعد تضحيات مكونات الشعب العراقي المظلوم . فالتركمان هجروا من كركوك والمناطق التركمانية الاخرى واجبروا على تغيير قومياتهم وتم الاستيلاء على جميع ممتلاكتهم واراضيهم الزراعية والسكنية وحرموا من ممارسة الانشطة السياسية والثقافية وحتى التجارة العادية ونستطيع القول بأن كل تركماني كان فوقه رقيب . ويشهد التاريخ بأن الاعدامات والاعتقالات التي نفذت بحق التركمان بطريقة الوحشية التي عرف بها النظام السابق ليس له مثيل في سجل الشعوب الاخرى فالاحداث التي المت في مدن التركمانية بشيير وتسعين والتون كوبري والمجازر التي ارتكبت في كركوك وطوزخورماتوا واربيل وقوافل المهجرين التي ساقها رجال النظام السابق في العهد البائد الى خارج الحدود كانت هذه القوافل تضم رجالا ونساءا واطفال العرات جردوا من كل شيء لا لذنب الا لانهم تركمان يحبون الشعب العراقي وال بيته الاطهار ويرومون العيش بسلام وامان مع مكونات الشعب العراقي وتم رميهم في الحدود الايرانية العراقية والحدود التركية العراقية فمتى نطالب بحقوق هؤلاء ومن يناقش مأسيهم التي عاشوها ويعيشونها اليوم . وهنا نطالب هيئة سجناء السياسيين وهيئة الشهداء في الدفاع عن حقوق شهداء العراق عامة والتركمان خاصة
وكذلك السجناء السياسيين التركمان والمطالبة بالتعويض عن الاضرار التي لحقت بهم ماديا ومعنويا وتعويض الشعب التركماني جراء هذه التضحيات الجثام لاعادة اراضيهم المغتصبة وممتلكاتهم وكافة حقوقهم القانونية والدستورية وكذلك نطالب الدولة لتقديم المزيد من مكتسبات للشعب التركماني المظلوم والمحروم من معظم حقوقهم الادارية والسياسية في مناطقهم ذات الاغلبية التركمانية
وانني اذ اثير هذا الموضوع بكل ثقة على اعضاء البرلمان الموقرين والاحزاب والحركات والمنظمات الوطنية التي تؤمن بوحدة العراق ارضا وشعبا انهم سيضمون اصواتهم الى صوتي دفاعا عن الحق والعدالة لاننا نريد للبرلمان دوما ان يكون صوت العقل والعدالة واخيرا اقول رفقا بالتركمان ورفقا بالعراق، والتركمان جزء لا يتجزء من الشعب العراقي وبعكسه سوف نضطر بمخاطبة هيئة الامم المتحدة والمجتمع الدولي والجامعة العربية ومنظمات حقوق الانسان بحق تقرير مصير التركمان في العراق والذين يبادون ويمحون كل يوم من خارطة العراق تحت اية مسميات ومن قبل الطامعين والشوفينيين والارهابيين الخونة الذين يراهنون على جماع العراقيين دون تمييز اوتفريق
31/7/2007

نداء من تركمان العراق

31-7-2007
نداء من تركمان العراق

إن العراقيين يعلمون جميعا مدى تمسك المواطنين التركمان بعراقيتهم وانتمائهم للتراب العراقي رغم الاتهامات الباطلة التي ما فتئت بعض القوى المغرضة تحيكها حولهم وهم الذين يدعون دوما إلى وحدة التراب الوطني وقدسية هذا التراب من شماله إلى جنوبه. وقد تعرضوا في تاريخهم المعاصر إلى حملات التنكيل والتشريد ابتداء من عام 1924 وحتى محاولات السيطرة على مناطق سكناهم من قبل بعض من لا تستهويه تمسك هؤلاء المواطنين بتراب الوطن
إن تركمان العراق يؤيدون فكرة ومبدأ دولة عراقية حرة موحدة ديمقراطية برلمانية تعددية تحترم حقوق الإنسان وتسود فيها مباديء القانون دون تمييز عرقي أو مذهبي أو ديني أو طائفي ويدعون إلى بناء هذه الدولة التي يرنو اغلب العراقيين إلى إقامتها وتأسيسها. إن التركمان في العراق سيشكلون بالطبع ثالث اكبر قومية فيه وعليهم تبوء مكانهم الطبيعي في الأخذ بيد هذه الدولة لتكون عضوا فاعلا في المجتمع الدولي المتمدن والمنظومة الدولية
إلا اننا نرى الآن قهرا وظلما فادحا يحيق بهذه الشريحة الهامة من شعب العراق ومن ذلك
القتل والتنكيل العشوائي لسكان المناطق التركمانية.
التغيير المستمر لديموغرافية كركوك والمدن التركمانية الأخرى.
استبعاد المواطنين التركمان من المناصب الرئيسية والتنفيذية بل وحتى استبعادهم من المناصب الرسمية في مدن يشكلون فيها الأغلبية مثل كركوك.
تهديد التجار والحرفيين ورجال الأعمال والأطباء والمثقفين التركمان بالقتل والخطف.
اعتقال شباب ومثقفي التركمان وسوقهم إلى جهات مجهولة.
- لقد وصل الأمر حتى إلى فرض أئمة المساجد في كركوك والمناطق المحيطة بها واستبعاد الأئمة التركمان من المساجد والحسينيات.
أيها الشعب العربي في العراق
إن التركمان هم امتداد طبيعي لكم يحفظون للعراق وحدته وعزته وكرامته، وها هم الآن يواجهون التصفية والقهر الجماعي والتهميش والظلم، فهل لكم في الإسراع إلى نجدتهم وحفظ كيانهم وكرامة مدنهم
أيها الشعب الكردي في العراق
لقد عشنا الحلو والمر على مر السنين والعقود، وتقاسمنا لقمة العيش وأصبحنا أخوة متراصين، فهل يرضيكم ما
تقترفه بعض القيادات من ظلم أصبح أقسى من الظلم الذي تعرضتم له في عهود الطغاة والشوفينيين، ألا ترفعون صوتكم لنجدة إخوتكم والاحتجاج على تحول الضحية إلى طاغية وإلحاق الظلم بشركائكم في الوطن والمصير
وانتم يا من تدينون بالمذاهب الإسلامية السمحاء
هل يطيب لكم العيش وإخوتكم الذين لقوا الهون والبطش سابقا ووضعوا أيديهم في أيديكم ضد الظلم والإلحاد والطغيان يلاقون هذا المصير المرعب، ألا تخشون من حساب الضمير والتاريخ وانتم تتفرجون على أبشع عملية تصفية يواجهها تركمان العراق
وأنتم يا تركمان العراق
يا من وقفتم سدا منيعا ضد الطغيان والظلم، يا من آليتم على أنفسكم أن لا تقولوا نعم لتغيير القومية، والوشاية بالآخرين وإلحاق الظلم بالضعيف ، انتم ترون مدنكم وقراكم تستباح وثوابتكم تلحق بها الإهانة، ألم يحن الوقت للنهوض سدا واحدا والوقوف وقفة رجل واحد ضد التسلط والقهر والظلم
وكلمة أخيرة، إلى من تسمون أنفسكم بالعالم الحر، إلى ممثلي مدنية وحضارة القرن الحادي والعشرين، باتحاداتكم ومنظماتكم المدنية، انتم يا من تتولون مسؤولية منظمة المؤتمر الإسلامي والجامعة العربية والاتحاد الأوربي والأمم المتحدة، يا شعوب تركيا وإيران وسوريا والأردن والكويت والسعودية، يا مسؤولي مصر الكنانة ومجاهدي الجزائر وأحزاب لبنان وفلسطين وحركاتها، هذه نداء استغاثة أخيرة إلى العالم الحر والى المؤمنين بعزة الله وجلالته والمقرين بدفع الظلم عن المظلوم ومقارعة الظالم. نحن تركمان العراق، في وضع حرج لا يسر أي مسلم أو أي شخص يدين بدين سماوي أو بمباديء الإنسانية في وقت يبشر فيه البعض ويهدد بحرب أهلية تحرق الأخضر واليابس إذا لم تستسلم الجماهير الخيرة لأفكارهم المريضة ولم تستجب لإرادتهم وحدها.اعلموا أن هذه الحرب الأهلية التي يهددون بها ستصل نارها إليكم عاجلا أو آجلا، فاحكموا العقل والمنطق والضمير. هبوا لنجدة هذا الشعب الذي لا يريد غير حقه في الحياة الحرة الكريمة التي تعهدتها المواثيق الدولية. فهل من مجيب؟
علي مهدي صادق
نائب رئيس حزب توركمن أيلي
عضو مجلس محافظة كركوك
1.8.2007
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