ITF EU Representative informs MEP about the latest developments in Turkmeneli

At the D-IQ meeting on 14th March 2011 at the EU Parliament, Dr. AYDINLI updated The Chair Mr. Struan STEVENSON about the latest developments in Iraq in general and in Turkmeneli and Kerkuk Province in particular, especially since the demonstrations of 25th February 2011 which took place in Kerkuk and all over Iraq, asking for better services (electricity, water); asking to put an end to corruption; asking for the improvement of food rationing; asking for employment opportunities for tens of thousands of graduates who have been out of work since years; asking for a fair distribution of wealth in Iraq.

Dr. Aydinli informed MEP Struan Stevenson and denounced the following:

1. Barzani’s decision to send 5000 Peshmerga in and around Kerkuk city, pretending it was to protect Kerkuk’s inhabitants from terrorist attacks, while in reality it is to further increase Kurdish hegemony in Kerkuk city and Kerkuk Province in general.

2. The unacceptable declaration of Jelal Talabani, the “President of the Republic of Iraq” about Kerkuk and its belonging, that Kerkuk is the “Jerusalem of the Kurds” and asking the Kurdish demonstrators to calm down in order for him to incorporate Kerkuk into the Kurdish region.

3. The unwillingness of the Iraqi authorities to resolve the property claims for thousands of dispossessed Turkmens, despite the creation of the Property Claims Commission since 2004 and the allocation of 200 million USD to compensate the illegally dispossessed Iraqi citizens under the Baath regime.

Dr. Aydinli informed MEP Struan Stevenson that the Turkmen Representative in the Iraqi Parliament had demanded the withdrawal of the Peshmerga from Kerkuk, as there is no legal justification for the presence of Kurdish Peshmerga outside the Kurdish autonomous region.

Dr. Aydinli asked the Chair to inform his colleagues and to put pressure on the Iraqi government to take the necessary measures to stop these abnormalities and irregularities happening in Turkmeneli, against the will of the Turkmens.