UK to aid Iraq DU removal | ||||
The US has said it has no plans to remove DU debris, despite international recommendations for its retrieval. There is widespread controversy over the use of DU, which some veterans believe has made them ill. One UK adviser on DU welcomed the British announcement as evidence of a fresh approach. A spokeswoman for the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) told BBC News Online: "Legally, we have no obligation to clean up the remains of the DU we used. It's the responsibility of the new regime in Baghdad. "But morally we do recognise an obligation, as we have in the past. We helped in the removal of DU from Kosovo. "We'll be helping in any way we can, specifically by providing money for the clean-up, and by making available records of where the ammunition was fired. Silver bullet "There may not always be any records, for instance where there was a skirmish - but insofar as we have them, we'll make them available."
When a weapon with a DU tip or core strikes a solid object, like the side of a tank, it goes straight through before erupting in a burning cloud of vapour. This settles as chemically poisonous and radioactive dust. Both the US and the UK acknowledge the dust can be dangerous if inhaled, though they say the danger is short-lived, localised, and much more likely to lead to chemical poisoning than to irradiation. Almost all the UK ammunition containing DU was fired from Challenger 2 tanks, the MoD says. It is also used in "bunker-busting" bombs, in some naval armaments, and in the ammunition of A-10 anti-tank aircraft. The MoD could give no figure for the amount of DU used in Iraq: one unconfirmed estimate suggests the total could be about 1,500 tonnes, five times more than was used in the 1991 Gulf war. Long-lived hazard A Pentagon spokesman said on 14 April he believed the US had no plans for a DU clean-up in Iraq. The British initiative is an unusual departure from a common Anglo-American approach.
It recommends collecting DU fragments, covering contaminated points with asphalt or clean soil, and keeping records of contaminated sites. Malcolm Hooper, emeritus professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Sunderland, is chief scientific adviser to the UK Gulf Veterans' Association. He told BBC News Online: "I welcome what the MoD has said, because it suggests someone may now be starting to say: 'Hang on, perhaps this stuff isn't as benign as we thought'. "And I think the evidence is piling up that DU is not benign at all. The inhalation of these fine dust particles represents a health hazard that was known to the military as long ago as 1974. "The ministry is right to say it has a moral duty to act. I think it has a legal duty as well, in the light of the child cancers and birth defects we've been seeing in Iraq since DU was used in the 1991 war." Many UK and US veterans of that war believe exposure to DU has damaged their health, and in some cases killed their comrades. They also blame it for some of the health problems seen in southern Iraq, though many scientists say there is no known mechanism by which DU could have caused the damage. | ||||
mardi 31 mai 2011
Britain and the US have the obligation to clean up the remains of DU they used in Iraq!
The evidence is piling up that DU is not benign at all 
lundi 30 mai 2011
Irak’ta Türkmenlere Yönelik Şiddet Neden Tırmanıyor
Irak’ta Türkmenlere Yönelik Şiddet Neden Tırmanıyor
Hasan Kanbolat, ORSAM Başkanı, hasankanbolat@orsam.org.tr
Mayıs ayının ilk haftasında Irak Türkmen Meclisi’nde alınan karara göre, Irak Türkmen Cephesi’nin (ITC) yeniden organize edilmesi kararlaştırılmıştı. ITC’nin yeni başkanı milletvekili ve ITC Kerkük İl Başkanı Erşat Salihi olmuştu. ITC’deki yeni siyasi yapılanma sürecinden bir hafta sonra 12 Mayıs’ta sabaha karşı Erşat Salihi’nin Kerkük’teki evine saldırı gerçekleştirilmişti. Ev korunmasına rağmen evin tavanında açılan delikten içeriye patlayıcılar atıldı, evin etrafına mayın döşendi. Böylece, Irak’ta ilk defa bir Türkmen lidere bu büyüklükte bir eylem yapıldı. Neyseki, Salihi ve ailesi evde iken yapılan saldırıda kimse zarar görmedi. Ancak, olay yerini incelemeden dönerken Kerkük Emniyet Müdürü Cemal Tahir’in konvoyuna da bir saldırının gerçekleşmiş olması saldırının oldukça organize ve ısrarlı olduğunu gösteriyor.
Irak’ta düşük yoğunluklu şiddet günlük hayatın parçası olmuş durumda. Irak’ın genelinde günde yaklaşık 10-100 kişinin hayatını kaybettiği şiddet günlük hayatı etkilemiyor. Irak halkı kitselleşmeyen şiddeti normal karşılamaya başlamış. Ancak, Salihi’ye yönelik saldırının Irak’taki herhangi bir saldırıyla karıştırılmaması gerekiyor. Nitekim, saldırının öneminden dolayı Türk Dışişleri Bakanlığı da bir açıklama yaparak saldırıyı kınamıştır (12 Mayıs 2011/ No: 126).
Erşat Salihi, muhtemel bir saldırıyı beklediklerini, ancak saldırı nedeniyle herhangi bir tarafı suçlayamayacağını söylemiştir. Olay, siyasi bir mesaj ise bu mesajın sahibi kim? Mesajın içeriği nedir? Irak’ın üç kurucu unsurundan biri olmalarına rağmen 7 Mart 2010 genel seçimlerine kadar Irak siyasetinde varlık gösteremeyen Türkmenler, ilk kez 3 bakanla temsil edilmeye başlanmış ve Kerkük Vilayet Başkanlığını seçimle elde etmişti. Türkmenlerin Irak siyasetinde yer almasından rahatsız mı olundu? Türkmenlerin siyaseti öğrenmesi mi rahatsızlık yarattı? Türkmenler üzerinde Türkiye’ye mesaj mı verilmek isteniyor? Yoksa, Türkiye’nin ve Irak Türkmenlerinin değişen Kürt politikası mı saldırılar da etkili oldu? Bu soruların cevaplarını aramak için yakın geçmişe bakmalıyız.
ITC, 1995’de Erbil’de kurulmuştu. O zamanlar Türkmenlerin sloganı “Erbil Türktür, Türk kalacak”dı. Ancak, PKK’nın Irak’ın kuzeyinde barınarak Türkiye’ye sızması, PKK’nın faaliyetlerine Irak Kürtlerinin müsaade etmesi Türkiye ve Irak Türkmenleri ile Irak Kürtlerinin arasının açılmasına yol açmıştı. 2003’de ABD işgali sonrası ITC merkezini Kerkük’e taşıdı. Kürdistan Bölgesel Yönetimi’nin oluşturulması ve ITC’nin ‘Kürdistan’ adını kabul etmemesi, KYB ve KDP’nin haritalarında bölgesel yönetimin sınırları içinde Kerkük’e yer vermesi taşınmada etkili olmuştu. Kürkük’e taşınan ITC ile birlikte Türkmenlerin yeni sloganı “Kerkük Türktür, Türk kalacak” olmuştu.
Son yıllarda Türkiye’nin Kürt politikasında yumuşamanın Irak Kürtleri ile ilişkileri de etkilemesiyle birlikte Irak Türkmenleri ile Irak Kürtleri arasında da bahar havası esmeye başlamıştır. Bu bahar havası Türkmenlerin Kerkük Vilayet Başkanlığını seçimle elde etmesine de yardımcı olmuştur. Türkiye’nin Erbil Başkonsolosluğu’nu açması, Dışişleri Bakanı Davutoğlu, Sanayi Bakanı Çağlayan, İçişleri Bakanı Atalay’ın ziyaretleri sonrası Başbakan Erdoğan’ın da 29 Mart’da Erbil’i ziyaret etmesi, KDP’nin kongresine ITC’yi davet etmesi, ITC’deki değişime Kürtlerin olumlu yaklaşımı ve Salihi’yi tebrik eden ilk siyasi partilerden birinin KYB olması, 2003’den beri Erbil bürosu kapalı olan ITC’nin Erbil’de yeniden büro açmaya hazırlanması Türkiye ve Irak Türkmenleri ile Irak Kürtleri arasındaki güven bunalımının büyük ölçüde aşılmasına yol açmıştır. Ancak, bu yeni denge yeni kutuplaşmaların da önünü açmıştır. Tartışmalı bölgelerde Kürtlerin nüfus ve siyasi yönden yayılmasından giderek daha fazla rahatsız olan egemen güçler Türkiye’nin ve Irak Türkmenlerinin uzlaşmacı politikalarından rahatsız olmuştur. Nitekim, 15 Şubat’ta Kerkük’te üç Türk işçisi kaçırılarak Kerkük-Reşad’a bağlı bir Arap köyü olan Dogmat’da 70 gün tutulmuş, son 7 gün de sadece plastik bir boruyla nefes alabilecek şekilde bir çukura gömülmüşlerdi.
Bölge Araplarını yok sayacak hiçbir çözüm önerisinin Kerkük’e ve tartışmalı bölgelere huzur getirmeyeceği açık bir gerçektir. Aynı şekilde, Türkmenler ve Kürtler de yok sayılamaz. Bu nedenle, bölgede taraflar arasındaki diyalog arayışlarının dengeler gözetilerek yapılması tansiyonun düşmesine yardımcı olacaktır.
29 MAYIS 2011
http://www.orsam.org.tr/tr/yazigoster.aspx?ID=1989
Hasan Kanbolat, ORSAM Başkanı, hasankanbolat@orsam.org.tr
Mayıs ayının ilk haftasında Irak Türkmen Meclisi’nde alınan karara göre, Irak Türkmen Cephesi’nin (ITC) yeniden organize edilmesi kararlaştırılmıştı. ITC’nin yeni başkanı milletvekili ve ITC Kerkük İl Başkanı Erşat Salihi olmuştu. ITC’deki yeni siyasi yapılanma sürecinden bir hafta sonra 12 Mayıs’ta sabaha karşı Erşat Salihi’nin Kerkük’teki evine saldırı gerçekleştirilmişti. Ev korunmasına rağmen evin tavanında açılan delikten içeriye patlayıcılar atıldı, evin etrafına mayın döşendi. Böylece, Irak’ta ilk defa bir Türkmen lidere bu büyüklükte bir eylem yapıldı. Neyseki, Salihi ve ailesi evde iken yapılan saldırıda kimse zarar görmedi. Ancak, olay yerini incelemeden dönerken Kerkük Emniyet Müdürü Cemal Tahir’in konvoyuna da bir saldırının gerçekleşmiş olması saldırının oldukça organize ve ısrarlı olduğunu gösteriyor.
Irak’ta düşük yoğunluklu şiddet günlük hayatın parçası olmuş durumda. Irak’ın genelinde günde yaklaşık 10-100 kişinin hayatını kaybettiği şiddet günlük hayatı etkilemiyor. Irak halkı kitselleşmeyen şiddeti normal karşılamaya başlamış. Ancak, Salihi’ye yönelik saldırının Irak’taki herhangi bir saldırıyla karıştırılmaması gerekiyor. Nitekim, saldırının öneminden dolayı Türk Dışişleri Bakanlığı da bir açıklama yaparak saldırıyı kınamıştır (12 Mayıs 2011/ No: 126).
Erşat Salihi, muhtemel bir saldırıyı beklediklerini, ancak saldırı nedeniyle herhangi bir tarafı suçlayamayacağını söylemiştir. Olay, siyasi bir mesaj ise bu mesajın sahibi kim? Mesajın içeriği nedir? Irak’ın üç kurucu unsurundan biri olmalarına rağmen 7 Mart 2010 genel seçimlerine kadar Irak siyasetinde varlık gösteremeyen Türkmenler, ilk kez 3 bakanla temsil edilmeye başlanmış ve Kerkük Vilayet Başkanlığını seçimle elde etmişti. Türkmenlerin Irak siyasetinde yer almasından rahatsız mı olundu? Türkmenlerin siyaseti öğrenmesi mi rahatsızlık yarattı? Türkmenler üzerinde Türkiye’ye mesaj mı verilmek isteniyor? Yoksa, Türkiye’nin ve Irak Türkmenlerinin değişen Kürt politikası mı saldırılar da etkili oldu? Bu soruların cevaplarını aramak için yakın geçmişe bakmalıyız.
ITC, 1995’de Erbil’de kurulmuştu. O zamanlar Türkmenlerin sloganı “Erbil Türktür, Türk kalacak”dı. Ancak, PKK’nın Irak’ın kuzeyinde barınarak Türkiye’ye sızması, PKK’nın faaliyetlerine Irak Kürtlerinin müsaade etmesi Türkiye ve Irak Türkmenleri ile Irak Kürtlerinin arasının açılmasına yol açmıştı. 2003’de ABD işgali sonrası ITC merkezini Kerkük’e taşıdı. Kürdistan Bölgesel Yönetimi’nin oluşturulması ve ITC’nin ‘Kürdistan’ adını kabul etmemesi, KYB ve KDP’nin haritalarında bölgesel yönetimin sınırları içinde Kerkük’e yer vermesi taşınmada etkili olmuştu. Kürkük’e taşınan ITC ile birlikte Türkmenlerin yeni sloganı “Kerkük Türktür, Türk kalacak” olmuştu.
Son yıllarda Türkiye’nin Kürt politikasında yumuşamanın Irak Kürtleri ile ilişkileri de etkilemesiyle birlikte Irak Türkmenleri ile Irak Kürtleri arasında da bahar havası esmeye başlamıştır. Bu bahar havası Türkmenlerin Kerkük Vilayet Başkanlığını seçimle elde etmesine de yardımcı olmuştur. Türkiye’nin Erbil Başkonsolosluğu’nu açması, Dışişleri Bakanı Davutoğlu, Sanayi Bakanı Çağlayan, İçişleri Bakanı Atalay’ın ziyaretleri sonrası Başbakan Erdoğan’ın da 29 Mart’da Erbil’i ziyaret etmesi, KDP’nin kongresine ITC’yi davet etmesi, ITC’deki değişime Kürtlerin olumlu yaklaşımı ve Salihi’yi tebrik eden ilk siyasi partilerden birinin KYB olması, 2003’den beri Erbil bürosu kapalı olan ITC’nin Erbil’de yeniden büro açmaya hazırlanması Türkiye ve Irak Türkmenleri ile Irak Kürtleri arasındaki güven bunalımının büyük ölçüde aşılmasına yol açmıştır. Ancak, bu yeni denge yeni kutuplaşmaların da önünü açmıştır. Tartışmalı bölgelerde Kürtlerin nüfus ve siyasi yönden yayılmasından giderek daha fazla rahatsız olan egemen güçler Türkiye’nin ve Irak Türkmenlerinin uzlaşmacı politikalarından rahatsız olmuştur. Nitekim, 15 Şubat’ta Kerkük’te üç Türk işçisi kaçırılarak Kerkük-Reşad’a bağlı bir Arap köyü olan Dogmat’da 70 gün tutulmuş, son 7 gün de sadece plastik bir boruyla nefes alabilecek şekilde bir çukura gömülmüşlerdi.
Bölge Araplarını yok sayacak hiçbir çözüm önerisinin Kerkük’e ve tartışmalı bölgelere huzur getirmeyeceği açık bir gerçektir. Aynı şekilde, Türkmenler ve Kürtler de yok sayılamaz. Bu nedenle, bölgede taraflar arasındaki diyalog arayışlarının dengeler gözetilerek yapılması tansiyonun düşmesine yardımcı olacaktır.
29 MAYIS 2011
http://www.orsam.org.tr/tr/yazigoster.aspx?ID=1989
dimanche 29 mai 2011
Can Turkey Unify the Arabs?
By ANTHONY SHADID
Published: May 28, 2011
GAZIANTEP, Turkey
LESS than a mile from the Syrian frontier, in the land of Kemal Ataturk, Ahmed Sheikh Said defies the identities that borders inspire.
Mr. Said was born in the Syrian town of Azaz and raised across a line on the map in Kilis, Turkey. A grocer, he speaks Turkish like a native to his customers, while holding an ear open to the Arabic telecasts of Al Jazeera playing in his store. His wife and his mother are Turkish, but Arab blood runs through his veins, he says, “till the end of time.”
“The bread of Azaz comes from Kilis, and the bread of Kilis comes from Azaz,” said Mr. Said, whose shop sits just off a road that once carried the business of the far-flung Ottoman Empire and now marks Turkey’s limits. “We’re the same. We’re brothers. What really divides us?”
As the Arab world beyond the border struggles with the inspirations and traumas of its revolution — a new notion of citizenship colliding with the smaller claims of piety, sect and clan — something else is percolating along the old routes of that empire, which spanned three continents and lasted six centuries before Ataturk brought it to an end in 1923 with self-conscious revolutionary zeal.
It is probably too early to define identities emerging in those locales. But something bigger than its parts is at work along imperial connections that were bent but never broken by decades of colonialism and the cold war. The links are the stuff of land, culture, history, architecture, memory and imagination that remains the realm of scholarship and daily lives but often eludes the notice of a journalism marching to the cadence of conflict.
Even amid the din of the upheaval in the Arab world, that new sense of belonging represents a more pacific and perhaps more powerful undertow pulling in directions that call into question more parochial notions. The undertow intersects with the Arab revolution’s search for a new sense of self; it also builds on economic forces now reconnecting an older imperium, as well as on Turkey’s new dynamism and on efforts to bring reality to what has long been nostalgia.
Its echoes are heard in the borderlands like Gaziantep, near Mr. Said’s shop, where businessman can haggle in a patois of English, Turkish, Arabic and even Kurdish. It is seen in the blurring of arbitrary lines where the Semitic script of Arabic and Kurdish tangles with the Latin script of Turkish across the borders with Syria and Iraq. It is noticed along the frontiers where Arab and Turkish nationalism, pan-Islamism and a host of secular ideologies never seemed to quite capture the ambitions or demarcate the environments of the diverse peoples who live there.
“The normalization of history,” proclaims the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, whose government has tried to reintegrate the region by lifting visa requirements and promoting a Middle Eastern trade zone, as it deploys its businessmen along the old routes and exports Turkey’s pop culture to an eager audience.
“None of the borders of Turkey are natural,” he went on. “Almost all of them are artificial. Of course we have to respect them as nation-states, but at the same time we have to understand that there are natural continuities. That’s the way it’s been for centuries.”
There is admittedly a hint of romanticism in it all. The Arab world may in fact be bracing for years of sectarian and internecine strife in places like Yemen, Bahrain, Libya and Syria. And in seeking to be a more prominent, and steadying, influence, Turkey’s ambitions may well be greater than its means. Still, economic realities are already restoring old trajectories that joined the Kurdish regions of Turkey and Iraq, tied Batumi in Georgia to Trabzon in Turkey, and knit Aleppo into an axis of cities — Mosul, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep and Iskenderun — in which Damascus, the leading but distant Arab metropole, was an afterthought.
THE DRAWING OF 20TH-CENTURY BORDERS rendered traumas large and small. Sectarian and ethnic cleansing after World War I rid Turkey and Greece of much of their diversity. The horrors of nationalism and the Holocaust made Salonica, a celebrated melting pot, unrecognizable in its modern incarnation. Even history’s footnotes were rewritten.
One example is Marjayoun, my family’s ancestral hometown in Lebanon, nestled near the Israeli and Syrian borders in the heart of the old Ottoman realm, and little more than an afterthought on maps these days.
No one in Marjayoun would necessarily pine for the days of the Ottoman rulers. Massacres occurred, and Jews and Christians faced discrimination in taxes and commerce. There was no such thing as equality. To this day, the darkest moments of Marjayoun’s history remain those last breaths of the empire — the seferberlik. It was the Ottoman name for the draft, but it came to represent the famine, starvation and death that World War I brought to the town, when the famished searched the manure of animals to find an undigested morsel of grain.
Yet more than a few in Marjayoun today might express a nostalgia for the time and place the Ottoman Empire represented, when Marjayoun’s traders ventured to Arish on the coast of the Sinai Peninsula and down the Nile to Sudan, by way of Palestine. The town was a way station on the route from the breadbasket of the Houran in southern Syria to Acre, the Levant’s greatest port on the coast of Palestine. Beirut was an afterthought. Marjayoun’s traders plied the steppe of the Houran, its gentry owned land in the Hula Valley, and its educated ventured to Haifa and Jerusalem to make their reputations.
World War I and the borders that followed augured the demise of this style of life, and not just in Marjayoun. The ideologies that gained prevalence in the town then were about contesting those frontiers — Arab nationalism, pan-Syrian nationalism and Communism, which itself was imagining a broader community. These movements failed as more borders were drawn in wars with Israel in 1948 and 1967. And with those lines on the map came a smaller sense of self. By the time Lebanon’s 15-year civil war began in 1975, ideologies had given way to identities, and most people in Marjayoun identified themselves simply as Christian, or perhaps Greek Orthodox, too unique to survive as a community.
A town of thousands is today a town of hundreds, strewn with the abandoned villas of another age. Hajar bala bashar, a friend once told me. “Stones without people.”
“A RECREATION OF THE HISTORIC AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT” is how Mr. Davutoglu describes his vision for the region. And indeed, that vision, which is effectively government policy, has touched in a nerve in Turkey, a country with its own unresolved questions of identity.
Just as Arab nationalism still runs run deep, with the fate of Palestine its axis, so does Turkish nationalism, which includes a sense that the country deserves a role in the region, and beyond that at least echoes of its Ottoman age. The more sophisticated Turks dismiss charges of a new rationale for Turkish imperialism and call the goal instead a peaceful partnership that might look like the free-trade zone that presaged the European Union after World War II.
“It’s been almost 100 years that we’ve been separated by superficial borders, superficial cultural and religious borders, and now with the lifting of visas to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, we’re lifting national boundaries,” said Yusuf Yerkel, a young academic on Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s staff. “Turkey is challenging the traditional understanding of policy in the Middle East in place since the 20th century.”
More than the talk of a salon, the vision comes at an obvious turning point in the Middle East. Though dealt setbacks by the Arab revolution — investments have been lost in Libya and the prospect of chaos stalks Syria — Turkey has stuck to its vision of an integrated region. A railway line linking Turkey, Syria and Iraq reopened last year; a fast train is to operate between Gaziantep and Aleppo. The resources of northern Iraq are strategic for Turkey’s plans to diversify its energy sources and to feed a pipeline from Turkey to central Europe. A common free-trade area has already been agreed upon by Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
Turkish television series are dubbed into Syrian Arabic, and its stars’ posters sell by the tens of thousands in Iraq. In Baghdad, portraits of one famous actor are digitally altered to show him in traditional Kurdish or Arab dress.
Across the region, the Arab revolution has inspired a rethinking of identity, even as older notions of self hang like a specter over the revolts’ success. In its most pristine, the revolution feels transnational, as demands of justice, freedom and dignity are expressed in a technology-driven globalism. It echoes even in Turkey, where religious and national divides are increasingly blurred. Selcuk Sirin, a professor at New York University who has done extensive polling in Turkey, especially among youth, calls this the emergence of “hybrid identities.”
“Young people don’t buy into this idea of a clash, and they don’t buy into this idea of fixed identity,” he said. “They know how to negotiate these so-called polar opposites, and they’re looking for something new.”
THERE WAS A MOVIE more than a decade ago in Turkey called “Propaganda,” a dark comedy about the border drawn between Syria and Turkey, dividing family from family. It was inspired by the reality of relatives heading to the fence there on Muslim holidays — Bayram in Turkish, Id in Arabic — and throwing gifts to the other side.
These days, with the border effectively open, Syrians fill the hotels on weekends in Gaziantep, which is famous for its pistachios. Some merchants here talk about their trade growing tenfold since visa requirements were lifted. Debates rage over whether the kebab of Gaziantep is better than the kibbe in Aleppo.
Turks may still call a mess “Arab hair.” But they also judge a gift by the standards of “apricots in Damascus.” And the old notions of Ottoman tyranny (from the Arab point of view) and Arab betrayal in World War I (as Turks see it) have given way somewhat to the promise of profit in a market still booming even amid the uprising across the border.
Hakan Cinkilic, foreign trade manager of a plastics company called Sun Pet, is reaping the benefits. Nearly 80 percent of its products go to Iraq, and the company set up a factory in Jordan last year. Its exports have more than doubled since 2008. This year he has already traveled to Libya, the United States, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
As he spoke, his cellphone rang. It was a customer in Kirkuk, Iraq, who spoke to him in Turkish. A few minutes later, a businessman called from the West Bank. The conversation unfolded in English, punctuated by Arabic expressions inflected by the vowels of his native tongue. You wouldn’t call him neo-Ottoman, given the term’s suggestion of a resurgent imperialism. He’s not really Levantine, an identity whose borders hug the Mediterranean coast. He seemed post-Ottoman, reinterpreting the past.
“It’s natural,” he said simply.
via Can Turkey Unify the Arabs? – NYTimes.com.
Published: May 28, 2011
GAZIANTEP, Turkey
LESS than a mile from the Syrian frontier, in the land of Kemal Ataturk, Ahmed Sheikh Said defies the identities that borders inspire.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand/Corbis
Mr. Said was born in the Syrian town of Azaz and raised across a line on the map in Kilis, Turkey. A grocer, he speaks Turkish like a native to his customers, while holding an ear open to the Arabic telecasts of Al Jazeera playing in his store. His wife and his mother are Turkish, but Arab blood runs through his veins, he says, “till the end of time.”
“The bread of Azaz comes from Kilis, and the bread of Kilis comes from Azaz,” said Mr. Said, whose shop sits just off a road that once carried the business of the far-flung Ottoman Empire and now marks Turkey’s limits. “We’re the same. We’re brothers. What really divides us?”
As the Arab world beyond the border struggles with the inspirations and traumas of its revolution — a new notion of citizenship colliding with the smaller claims of piety, sect and clan — something else is percolating along the old routes of that empire, which spanned three continents and lasted six centuries before Ataturk brought it to an end in 1923 with self-conscious revolutionary zeal.
It is probably too early to define identities emerging in those locales. But something bigger than its parts is at work along imperial connections that were bent but never broken by decades of colonialism and the cold war. The links are the stuff of land, culture, history, architecture, memory and imagination that remains the realm of scholarship and daily lives but often eludes the notice of a journalism marching to the cadence of conflict.
Even amid the din of the upheaval in the Arab world, that new sense of belonging represents a more pacific and perhaps more powerful undertow pulling in directions that call into question more parochial notions. The undertow intersects with the Arab revolution’s search for a new sense of self; it also builds on economic forces now reconnecting an older imperium, as well as on Turkey’s new dynamism and on efforts to bring reality to what has long been nostalgia.
Its echoes are heard in the borderlands like Gaziantep, near Mr. Said’s shop, where businessman can haggle in a patois of English, Turkish, Arabic and even Kurdish. It is seen in the blurring of arbitrary lines where the Semitic script of Arabic and Kurdish tangles with the Latin script of Turkish across the borders with Syria and Iraq. It is noticed along the frontiers where Arab and Turkish nationalism, pan-Islamism and a host of secular ideologies never seemed to quite capture the ambitions or demarcate the environments of the diverse peoples who live there.
“The normalization of history,” proclaims the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, whose government has tried to reintegrate the region by lifting visa requirements and promoting a Middle Eastern trade zone, as it deploys its businessmen along the old routes and exports Turkey’s pop culture to an eager audience.
“None of the borders of Turkey are natural,” he went on. “Almost all of them are artificial. Of course we have to respect them as nation-states, but at the same time we have to understand that there are natural continuities. That’s the way it’s been for centuries.”
There is admittedly a hint of romanticism in it all. The Arab world may in fact be bracing for years of sectarian and internecine strife in places like Yemen, Bahrain, Libya and Syria. And in seeking to be a more prominent, and steadying, influence, Turkey’s ambitions may well be greater than its means. Still, economic realities are already restoring old trajectories that joined the Kurdish regions of Turkey and Iraq, tied Batumi in Georgia to Trabzon in Turkey, and knit Aleppo into an axis of cities — Mosul, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep and Iskenderun — in which Damascus, the leading but distant Arab metropole, was an afterthought.
THE DRAWING OF 20TH-CENTURY BORDERS rendered traumas large and small. Sectarian and ethnic cleansing after World War I rid Turkey and Greece of much of their diversity. The horrors of nationalism and the Holocaust made Salonica, a celebrated melting pot, unrecognizable in its modern incarnation. Even history’s footnotes were rewritten.
One example is Marjayoun, my family’s ancestral hometown in Lebanon, nestled near the Israeli and Syrian borders in the heart of the old Ottoman realm, and little more than an afterthought on maps these days.
No one in Marjayoun would necessarily pine for the days of the Ottoman rulers. Massacres occurred, and Jews and Christians faced discrimination in taxes and commerce. There was no such thing as equality. To this day, the darkest moments of Marjayoun’s history remain those last breaths of the empire — the seferberlik. It was the Ottoman name for the draft, but it came to represent the famine, starvation and death that World War I brought to the town, when the famished searched the manure of animals to find an undigested morsel of grain.
Yet more than a few in Marjayoun today might express a nostalgia for the time and place the Ottoman Empire represented, when Marjayoun’s traders ventured to Arish on the coast of the Sinai Peninsula and down the Nile to Sudan, by way of Palestine. The town was a way station on the route from the breadbasket of the Houran in southern Syria to Acre, the Levant’s greatest port on the coast of Palestine. Beirut was an afterthought. Marjayoun’s traders plied the steppe of the Houran, its gentry owned land in the Hula Valley, and its educated ventured to Haifa and Jerusalem to make their reputations.
World War I and the borders that followed augured the demise of this style of life, and not just in Marjayoun. The ideologies that gained prevalence in the town then were about contesting those frontiers — Arab nationalism, pan-Syrian nationalism and Communism, which itself was imagining a broader community. These movements failed as more borders were drawn in wars with Israel in 1948 and 1967. And with those lines on the map came a smaller sense of self. By the time Lebanon’s 15-year civil war began in 1975, ideologies had given way to identities, and most people in Marjayoun identified themselves simply as Christian, or perhaps Greek Orthodox, too unique to survive as a community.
A town of thousands is today a town of hundreds, strewn with the abandoned villas of another age. Hajar bala bashar, a friend once told me. “Stones without people.”
“A RECREATION OF THE HISTORIC AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT” is how Mr. Davutoglu describes his vision for the region. And indeed, that vision, which is effectively government policy, has touched in a nerve in Turkey, a country with its own unresolved questions of identity.
Just as Arab nationalism still runs run deep, with the fate of Palestine its axis, so does Turkish nationalism, which includes a sense that the country deserves a role in the region, and beyond that at least echoes of its Ottoman age. The more sophisticated Turks dismiss charges of a new rationale for Turkish imperialism and call the goal instead a peaceful partnership that might look like the free-trade zone that presaged the European Union after World War II.
“It’s been almost 100 years that we’ve been separated by superficial borders, superficial cultural and religious borders, and now with the lifting of visas to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, we’re lifting national boundaries,” said Yusuf Yerkel, a young academic on Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s staff. “Turkey is challenging the traditional understanding of policy in the Middle East in place since the 20th century.”
More than the talk of a salon, the vision comes at an obvious turning point in the Middle East. Though dealt setbacks by the Arab revolution — investments have been lost in Libya and the prospect of chaos stalks Syria — Turkey has stuck to its vision of an integrated region. A railway line linking Turkey, Syria and Iraq reopened last year; a fast train is to operate between Gaziantep and Aleppo. The resources of northern Iraq are strategic for Turkey’s plans to diversify its energy sources and to feed a pipeline from Turkey to central Europe. A common free-trade area has already been agreed upon by Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
Turkish television series are dubbed into Syrian Arabic, and its stars’ posters sell by the tens of thousands in Iraq. In Baghdad, portraits of one famous actor are digitally altered to show him in traditional Kurdish or Arab dress.
Across the region, the Arab revolution has inspired a rethinking of identity, even as older notions of self hang like a specter over the revolts’ success. In its most pristine, the revolution feels transnational, as demands of justice, freedom and dignity are expressed in a technology-driven globalism. It echoes even in Turkey, where religious and national divides are increasingly blurred. Selcuk Sirin, a professor at New York University who has done extensive polling in Turkey, especially among youth, calls this the emergence of “hybrid identities.”
“Young people don’t buy into this idea of a clash, and they don’t buy into this idea of fixed identity,” he said. “They know how to negotiate these so-called polar opposites, and they’re looking for something new.”
THERE WAS A MOVIE more than a decade ago in Turkey called “Propaganda,” a dark comedy about the border drawn between Syria and Turkey, dividing family from family. It was inspired by the reality of relatives heading to the fence there on Muslim holidays — Bayram in Turkish, Id in Arabic — and throwing gifts to the other side.
These days, with the border effectively open, Syrians fill the hotels on weekends in Gaziantep, which is famous for its pistachios. Some merchants here talk about their trade growing tenfold since visa requirements were lifted. Debates rage over whether the kebab of Gaziantep is better than the kibbe in Aleppo.
Turks may still call a mess “Arab hair.” But they also judge a gift by the standards of “apricots in Damascus.” And the old notions of Ottoman tyranny (from the Arab point of view) and Arab betrayal in World War I (as Turks see it) have given way somewhat to the promise of profit in a market still booming even amid the uprising across the border.
Hakan Cinkilic, foreign trade manager of a plastics company called Sun Pet, is reaping the benefits. Nearly 80 percent of its products go to Iraq, and the company set up a factory in Jordan last year. Its exports have more than doubled since 2008. This year he has already traveled to Libya, the United States, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
As he spoke, his cellphone rang. It was a customer in Kirkuk, Iraq, who spoke to him in Turkish. A few minutes later, a businessman called from the West Bank. The conversation unfolded in English, punctuated by Arabic expressions inflected by the vowels of his native tongue. You wouldn’t call him neo-Ottoman, given the term’s suggestion of a resurgent imperialism. He’s not really Levantine, an identity whose borders hug the Mediterranean coast. He seemed post-Ottoman, reinterpreting the past.
“It’s natural,” he said simply.
via Can Turkey Unify the Arabs? – NYTimes.com.
jeudi 26 mai 2011
IRAQ: Thousands rally against U.S. troops
Thursday, May. 26, 2011
Iraq: Thousands Rally Against U.S. Troops
By AP / QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
(BAGHDAD) — Iraqi Shi'ite militia fighters led a massive rally of followers of a hard-liner anti-American cleric on Thursday, marching in Baghdad in a show of defiance as Iraqi leaders weigh whether to keep U.S. troops in the country beyond the end of the year.
An estimated 70,000 supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr waved Iraqi flags and shouted "No, no, America!" as the tight columns of the unarmed but ominous Mahdi Army marched though one of Baghdad's poorest neighborhoods.
U.S., Israeli and British flags were painted on the pavement to be stomped on by the marching protesters, and Iraqi military helicopters buzzed overhead while soldiers stood guard to keep peace if needed.
The rally was a message to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki about the staunch opposition by Iraq's most devout Shi'ites — and the ones who grudgingly helped him clinch a second term in office last year — to a continued U.S. military presence in 2012.
Under a security agreement between Washington and Baghdad, the 46,000 combat troops still in Iraq are required to leave by Dec. 31. But Iraq's widespread instability has led U.S. and Iraqi leaders to reconsider the deadline for the sake of the country's security.
"I am ready to fight the Americans whenever Sayyida (Muqtada) orders me to," Mohammed Moyad, 18, who said he skipped five days of school to train with his colleagues for Thursday's march.
Al-Sadr had not yet appeared nearly two hours after the start of the march, and his top aide, Salah al-Obeidi, said the cleric likely would not. Adoring crowds surged at a convoy of more than 10 white sport utility vehicles that was believed to be carrying al-Sadr, but it drove away without stopping.
Though the rally was billed as a peaceful demonstration, al-Obeidi said threats against the U.S. still stand if the troops stay. "We will be obliged to fight and do our best to liberate our country," he said.
Already, American forces in Baghdad and southern Iraq have seen an increase in rocket and mortar attacks as well as roadside bombs in recent months. U.S. officials have blamed the uptick on Shi'ite militias backed by Iran who are trying to take credit for driving American forces from Iraq.
Al-Obeidi said the point of the rally was to show that Iraqis are disciplined and can protect the country. A statement by parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni, called the march "clear proof to Iraq's unity."
However, al-Nujaifi spokesman Mohammed al-Khalidi sought to distance the speaker from the specter of violence. He said al-Nujaifi is not necessarily against the U.S. presence but declined to elaborate.
U.S. officials counted more than 300 busloads — each carrying up to 70 passengers — who traveled from Iraq's south for the rally, and were joined by some of the roughly 2 million who live in Baghdad's northeast Sadr City neighborhood where it was held.
An estimated 18,000 militiamen wore matching T-shirts bearing the Iraqi flag as spectators burned American and Israeli banners. Small groups of youths along the parade route also struck Americans flags with twirling kickboxing moves to the delight of onlookers.
Associated Press writers Rebecca Santana and Lara Jakes contributed to this report.
Iraq: Thousands Rally Against U.S. Troops
By AP / QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
(BAGHDAD) — Iraqi Shi'ite militia fighters led a massive rally of followers of a hard-liner anti-American cleric on Thursday, marching in Baghdad in a show of defiance as Iraqi leaders weigh whether to keep U.S. troops in the country beyond the end of the year.
An estimated 70,000 supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr waved Iraqi flags and shouted "No, no, America!" as the tight columns of the unarmed but ominous Mahdi Army marched though one of Baghdad's poorest neighborhoods.
U.S., Israeli and British flags were painted on the pavement to be stomped on by the marching protesters, and Iraqi military helicopters buzzed overhead while soldiers stood guard to keep peace if needed.
The rally was a message to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki about the staunch opposition by Iraq's most devout Shi'ites — and the ones who grudgingly helped him clinch a second term in office last year — to a continued U.S. military presence in 2012.
Under a security agreement between Washington and Baghdad, the 46,000 combat troops still in Iraq are required to leave by Dec. 31. But Iraq's widespread instability has led U.S. and Iraqi leaders to reconsider the deadline for the sake of the country's security.
"I am ready to fight the Americans whenever Sayyida (Muqtada) orders me to," Mohammed Moyad, 18, who said he skipped five days of school to train with his colleagues for Thursday's march.
Al-Sadr had not yet appeared nearly two hours after the start of the march, and his top aide, Salah al-Obeidi, said the cleric likely would not. Adoring crowds surged at a convoy of more than 10 white sport utility vehicles that was believed to be carrying al-Sadr, but it drove away without stopping.
Though the rally was billed as a peaceful demonstration, al-Obeidi said threats against the U.S. still stand if the troops stay. "We will be obliged to fight and do our best to liberate our country," he said.
Already, American forces in Baghdad and southern Iraq have seen an increase in rocket and mortar attacks as well as roadside bombs in recent months. U.S. officials have blamed the uptick on Shi'ite militias backed by Iran who are trying to take credit for driving American forces from Iraq.
Al-Obeidi said the point of the rally was to show that Iraqis are disciplined and can protect the country. A statement by parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni, called the march "clear proof to Iraq's unity."
However, al-Nujaifi spokesman Mohammed al-Khalidi sought to distance the speaker from the specter of violence. He said al-Nujaifi is not necessarily against the U.S. presence but declined to elaborate.
U.S. officials counted more than 300 busloads — each carrying up to 70 passengers — who traveled from Iraq's south for the rally, and were joined by some of the roughly 2 million who live in Baghdad's northeast Sadr City neighborhood where it was held.
An estimated 18,000 militiamen wore matching T-shirts bearing the Iraqi flag as spectators burned American and Israeli banners. Small groups of youths along the parade route also struck Americans flags with twirling kickboxing moves to the delight of onlookers.
Associated Press writers Rebecca Santana and Lara Jakes contributed to this report.
Korku, Engelleri Aştık biz...Sadun Köprülü
Yazan: Sadun KÖPRÜLÜ
Irak Türkleri için korkunç ve ürpertici yaşantılar hazırlayanlara Saddam rejimi ve ömrü billah düşman güçlerin oyuncağı olmaktan öteye gitmemiş, hep dış güçlerle el ele yürümüş –sözüm ona feodal aşiret reisi, işbirlikçiler Türk halkına karşı fırsatçı ve acımasız oldular.
Türkmen milletine Saddam rejimi gibi türlü baskılar uyguladılar: İşkenceler, tertip ve tuzaklar bir yandan, bir yandan hukuksuz özgürlüklerini ellerinden aldılar, yok ettiler veya yerlerinden yurtlarından ettiler ve etmeye çalışmaktadırlar. Mallarını mülklerini yağmaladılar.
Acı çileyle, sürgünle yok etmeye, haklarını gasp etmeye devam etmeleri yetmedi, özellikle Türkmen şehri Kerkük’e, yine bir ölçüde yerlerinden yurtlarından ettikleri başka unsurları getirip yerleştirdiler.
Olay petrol ve feodal güçlerin güç gösterisi sorunudur.
Bunları gerçekleştirmek için dünyanın gözüne baka, baka sistemli, planlı faaliyetlerini sürdürüyorlar.
Sanki dünya “üç buçuk eşkıya”ya teslim
Edilmişte Türk’ün yok edilişine hepten karar verilmiştir.
Görünüşe göre sanki mazlumların gücü sahibi kalmamıştır…
Ama Irak Türkleri hale bu maceraya karşı dayanıp durdular, korkmadılar, susmak bilmediler, her yerde haklarını aramaya gösterişlere katıldılar, şehitler verdiler, irada gücü ile zorluğa karşılık verebildiler.
Acıya, işkenceye, baskıya, çileye dayandılar durdular varlıklarını tüm dünyaya bildirdiler.
Çünkü Türk milleti olarak gururumuz, İlkemiz her şeyden üstündür, Eski dönemde Kerkük’te, Altunköprü, Tuzhurmatu ve başka Türkmen topraklarında, diktatör rejimi güvenlik, istihbaratı, her tarafı sarmıştı, hatta öyle bir duruma gelmiştir ki, millet kendi evinde ailesi içerisinde siyaset, Türkçülükten, Milletten, Kerkük ve öteki Türkmen yerlerinden ve ortalarında anne dilleriyle konuşmak, Türkçe türkü söylemekten, kitap, gazete, dergi okumadan dertleşmekten bahsetmeye çekiniyorlardır.
Kardeş, kardeşten, baba, oğuldan herkes birbirinden korkuyordur.
Yüzlerce genç, yaşlılarımızı boşu boşuna idam ederek kurşuna dizerek, birçoğunu da yıllar boyunca Türkçülük, milliyetçilik ile suçlayarak mahpushaneye atmışlardır.
Ama ne yazık demokrasi geldi diye sevindik buda çok sürmedi yine işbirlikçiler, Saddamcılar ve kopyaları iş başında hep eskiden yaralandıkları gibi bugünde onlara daha fazla önem verilmektedir, Mücadeleci dava adamları, şehit aileleri ve hapis, ,işkence görenler arka planda kalarak onları her bir türlü baskı ile yok etmeye çalışıyorlar
Ama bir türlü onlara karşı yüz be yüz duramıyorlar, güçleri yetemiyor millet arkalarında olduğundan dolayı.
Çünkü onlar yiğittiler, kahramandılar, korkuya, ölüme bile aldırmadan milli mücadele davalarını kanlarıyla, canlarıyla sürdürmektedirler.
Bizler geçmişte olduğu gibi bugünde
Değer arzularımızı beslemekle, varlığımıza göz koyan gururumuzu, özgürlüğümüzü hiç etmeye çalışanların karşısında, Ercesine korkmadan durarak, hiç kimsenin bizde hakkı yoktur, yalnız kendi başımızla, kanımızla, canımızla özgürlüğümüz için, mücadelemiz için, döktüğümüz arı temiz kanları meydanları kınamıyoruz.
Türklükle iftihar ederek yüce, Ulu şehitlerimizi anarak, acılarımızın tekrar geriye dönmesini isteyenlere ve tahta oturmayı hayal edenlere, sevenlere hiç
Hoş geldin demiyoruz, tahta oturanlar kutsal görevlerin düşünmelidirler, parayı masayı, sandalyeyi unutmalı, yalnız şehitlerin kanına, Türkmeneli Kerkük’e
and ederek, düz doğru milli yolda gönülden, çalışarak Türkçülük milliyetçilik görevini sağlam olarak yerine getirmeli,
Saddam cellât gibi, kendi milleti için diktatör olmamalı, çünkü her lideri millet lider eder, beğenmezse de millet onu yok eder düşürür, tahtan atar, indirir Dünyada
Ortadoğuda olduğu gibi.
En büyük sorunumuz korku idi, ama bugün bir kıyıcı diktatöre karşı, bunu aşarak, cellat Saddam düştükten sonra, yerini İşbirlikçi partiler, ajanlar, alınan insanlar alarak, onun yapmadığını Türkmen milletine karşı onlar uygulamaktadırlar.
Biz büyük bir milletiz, kendimize güveniriz, gururumuz, benliğimiz, varlığımız için her adımda ilerlemekteyiz.
Saddam yönetiminde kapkaranlık, dünyamızı çalışma, yorulmayla aydınlatarak, bu günde milli yolumuza, Saddam rejiminin düşmesi, halkın ayaklanması, ve karşı durması, irade ve sabırla, mücadeleye başlayarak, onları korku ve endişe içerisine sokmalı....
En büyük zulüm ve vahşete karşı duran, Irak Türkleri toprak, yurtlarımızı, köy, yerlerimizi, pisliklerden, kıyıcı kötülüklerden, zalimlerden, Türk düşmanlarından, işbirlikçilerden kurtarmak için, neler yaptığımızı dünya biliyor, Bunu, hiç kimse inkâr edemez, bizler yüce Türk milletinin oğullarıyız, baş eğmeden kimseye, ırkımızdan, Türklüğümüzden ölürüz hiçbir zaman tavız vermeyiz.
Tüm dünya basını ve yayınları buna şahittir, Duymayan duysun, bilmeyen bilsinler, bizler Irak’ta, büyük milletiz, bu toprakları biz kurduk, gelişleştirdik, uygarlık yaptık, tarih yazdık bizlerden önce bu topraklarda, hiçbir millet devlet yokmuş 6 devlet imparatorlar korduk, Irak Türkleri olarak tarih boyu bu topraklarda Devletler, bizim elimizle hüküm sürmüştür, korkmadan her türlü facia ve kaygı zulüm, işkence karşısında durup yenilmeden varlığımızı gösterdik, Bizi yok eden ve hayatımızla oynayan insanlara, hiç fırsat vermeyeceğiz.
Tarihimizin, hayatımızın kararmasını bilmiş ve anlamışız buna göre yolumuza başlamışız, bu nedenle tüm haklarımızı koruyarak başarmalıyız.
Ey kıralar, tiranlar, despotlar, kıyıcı diktatörler, dünyaya hâkim olmak isteyenler, bu mazlum insanların kaderinde oynayanlar, biraz kendinize gelin, önünüzü düşünmezseniz sonunuzu düşünün, bu dünya çok padişahlara, başkanlara hiç kimselere kalmamış ve kalmayacaktır.
Acaba sonunuzun, hesabından korkmuyormuşsunuz, utanmıyormuşsunuz.
Sizlerde, Saddam ve Saddamcılar, bu kutsal Türkmen toprak yerlerini kendilerine mal edenler, Türk yurdu Kerkük'ü kendi topraklar, malları sayanlar, artık sonunuz geldi, biz büyük Türk dünyasını, birleştireceğiz birliğimizi koracağız isterseniz, istemezseniz de bu topraklar, bu yerler bizlerindir ve bizlerinde kalacaktır.
Büyük tarihli, kültürlü, onurlu, töreli, güçlü atılgan yiğit Türk milleti ile bizler varız var olacağız.
Türkmenler, Azerbaycan Türkleri, Batı Trakya, Roman, Yunan, Makedonya, Ahıska, Batı Avrupa, Avustralya, ABD Türkleri, Dağıstan, Kuzey Osetya, Gagavuz,
Kara kaplak, Kırım, Tatar Doğu Türkistan,
Uygur Türkleri, Afganistan, Bulgaristan, Irak, Erdebil, Urumya, Türkmen Sahra, Tebriz, Tahran, Horasan, Kaşğar, Halaç, Zen can, Hehadan, Kazvin Türkleri, Irak Kerkük, Kale Hıristiyanları , Musul, Erbil, Diyala, Telafer, Bağdat Türkleri, Sincan, Telafer, Aziziye Türkleri…
Moğolistan ,Nugaya, Suriye, Heleb, Dımışk, Lazikiya, Hasaka, Teslima Türkleri, Kosova, Sancak, Baş Kurt isten, Çavuş isten, Yakut isten, Hakas, Altay , Tava, Kara çay, Kabart ay, Balkar, İnguşe Sibirya, Kızıl deriler, Filistin Ehzan, Cenin, Adana köy,Türkleri, Kahire, Cezayir, Tunus, Libya, Kıbrıs,Urdun, Hicaz, Şam Türkleri Türkmenistan, Azerbaycan, Türkistan, Kırgız, Özbekistan , Kazakistan, Tacikistan, Kara bağ, Çeçenistan, Bosna Hersek, Arnavutluk… Ve tüm dünya Türkleri birdir, bir gönül, bir eldiler, bir dildiler; hiç bir mezhep, din, renk ayrımı bizde yoktur ve olmayacaktır, çünkü bir yürek bir gönülüz.
Bundan dolayı bizler her Türk’e kanımızla, canımızla, malımızla her bir şeyimizle, yardım edersek öz milletimize yardım etmek oluyoruz ve hiçbir kimseye de ajans uşak olmayacağız. Türk milleti her nerde olursa olsun, kendi milletimizdir, kendi kanımızdır, canımızdır.
Türklük davamızdan bizi hiç bir güç kuvvet ayıramaz Atasözümüzde olduğu gibi, Et tırnaktan ayrılmaz.
Düşmanlar bizleri bir mezhep, iki din, üç, dört ülke, bu Türk’tür, bu Türkmen’dir, bu Azarıdır, bu Afşar, bu Gagavuz’dur diye ayırtmak istiyorlar, ama bunlar bu boş kafayı kötü davranışları iç, dış düşmanlıkları kin beslemekleri, hainliklerini yeter bıraksınlar,
Bizim varlığımızı unutmayacağız,hakkımız öcümüz her nasıl olursa alınacaktır, bizleri sevmeyenler kıyıcılar doğdukları günlerine pişman olacaklardır..
Düşmanlarda bunu iyi bilsin bir karış anayurt, baba ocağı topraklarımız Kerkük, Musul, Erbil’den ve Türk dünyamızdan ayrılamayız, vazgeçmeyiz, ölene, can verene kadar.
Başkaları ne derse desinler, bizler Türk’üz, Türk kalacağız, Anavatanımız Türkiye’dir ve nerde bir Türk varsa oradan sınır, topraklarımız başlayacak,
Oralarda Türkçülük, milli bayrağımız dalgalanacaktır.
Rahmetli büyük Atamız Mustafa Kemal Paşa Atatürk, ne kadar güzel belirtmiştir:
“NE MUTLU TÜRK’ÜM DİYENE!”
Tarihimiz Uludur yücedir milli yorumumuz da bu, ne yazık ki. Hem yazık, hem tarihimiz mücadelemiz anlamamız geregir toplumuzu biran önce uykudan kaldırmalıyız, ona göre hesap kitap etmemiz gereken çıplak gerçekte bu değil midir?
Rahmetli Türk Başbuğu Türkeş’in, tarihe gönderme yaparak belirttiği,”Türk’ün Türk’ten başka dostu yoktur” gerçeği, ne yazık ki uzak kalan bir bölüm kardeşlerimiz Türk’e, Türk dünyasına yakınlık, ilgi göstermemiş gerekmektedir yanlarında olmalıyız, sahip çıkmalıyız kendisini doğru Türk bilenler artık korkuyu unutsunlar Türkler yiğittir, yiğit, kahraman kalmalıdırlar.
samedi 21 mai 2011
Iraklı Bakan ve Valiler Yerel Yönetimlerin Sorunlarını ve Türkiye İle İşbirliği Olanaklarını Değerlendirdi
Bugüne kadar özellikle Ortadoğu ülkelerinden pek çok konuğu ağırlayan ORSAM, 18 Mayıs 2011'de Irak Vilayetlerden Sorumlu Devlet Bakanı Dr. Turhan Müftü, Bağdat Valisi Salah Abdülrezzak ve Divaniye Valisi Salim Hüseyin Alvan'ı konuk etti. Iraklı konuklar Ankara'da Rixos Otel'de “Irak’ta Yerel Yönetimlerin Sorunları ve Türkiye ile İşbirliği Olanakları” konulu bir konferans verdi.
http://www.orsam.org.tr/tr/trUploads/Yazilar/Dosyalar/2011520_orsam.turan.mufti.tutanaklar.pdf
mardi 17 mai 2011
Why violence against Turkmens in Iraq is increasing, by Hasan Kanbolat
16 May 2011, Monday
HASAN KANBOLAT
h.kanbolat@todayszaman.com
Today's Zaman
Why violence against Turkmens in Iraq is increasing
According to a decision made in the first week of May in the Iraqi Turkmen parliament, the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) is to be re-structured. The new head ITC member of parliament and ITC Kirkuk City president is Erşat Salihi.
One week after the new political restructuring of the ITC, on the morning of May 12, Erşat Salihi's Kirkuk home was attacked. Despite the fact that his house was guarded, the attacker succeeded in tossing explosives into his house and planting mines around the outside of the home. And thus, the first large-scale attack on a Turkmen leader in Iraq took place. Luckily, no one was hurt during these events, even though Salihi and his family were at home during the attack. But the fact that the convoy of Kirkuk Police Chief Cemal Tahir was attacked as Tahir and his team returned from inspecting the evidence at Salihi's home shows that whoever carried out these attacks was very organized and resolute in their actions.
These days, low-intensity violence is simply a part of daily life throughout Iraq. And this violence, which kills anywhere between 10-100 people a day, does not actually affect daily life anymore. In fact, the Iraqi people have begun to view this sort of non-mass violence as normal. At the same time, one must not compare the attack against Salihi to other violence occurring in Iraq these days. In response to the significance of this particular attack, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs even issued a special declaration (on May 12) condemning it.
As for Erşat Salihi, he said that while he had been expecting an attack, he was not able to blame any particular faction for it. If this event was carried out with the intent of relaying a political message, who was behind it and what were the contents of the message? The Turkmens, despite being one of the three founding groups of Iraq, were not really present in Iraqi politics until the March 7, 2010 general elections, when they were suddenly for the first time represented by three ministers, as well as the Kirkuk provincial presidency. So have some factions been made uncomfortable by the presence of Turkmens on the Iraqi political stage? Does it bother some that the Turkmens are learning the art of politics? Was the message actually intended for Turkey via the Turkmens? Or is it Turkey's, as well as the Iraqi Turkmen's, changing Kurdish policies that were at play in this attack? We need to look at the recent past to find some answers here.
The ITC was formed in 1995 in Erbil. At the time, the Turkmen slogan was “Erbil is Turkish and will remain Turkish!” But the fact that the PKK was being sheltered in Northern Iraq and slipping over the border into Turkey and that the Iraqi Kurds were allowing the PKK to be active, wound up causing rifts between the Iraqi Kurds and both Turkey and the Iraqi Turkmens. After the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the ITC headquarters moved to Kirkuk from Erbil. Influential in this move were the formation of the Kurdistan Regional Authority and the ITC's acceptance of the name “Kurdistan,” as well as the fact that Kirkuk was shown as lying within the borders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) maps of regional leadership. When the ITC headquarters moved to Kirkuk, the new slogan for Iraqi Turkmen became “Kirkuk is Turkish, and will remain Turkish!”
Over recent years, as Turkey's Kurdish policies have softened and their relations with Iraqi Kurds have improved, relations between the Iraqi Turkmen and the Iraqi Kurds also began to soften and improve. In fact, it was precisely this improved atmosphere that helped the Iraqi Turkmens successfully win over the Kirkuk provincial presidency. Events such as Turkey's opening a consulate in Erbil, visits to the region by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Industry Minister Zafer Çağlayan, Interior Affairs Minister Beşir Atalay, and then a visit to Erbil by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on March 29 were all crucial in helping overcome the lack of trust that had existed between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds, as well as between Iraqi Turkmens and Iraqi Kurds.
Other fundamental steps that helped the atmosphere were the KDP inviting the ITC to its congress, the ITC approaching Iraqi Kurds more positively, the KYB being one of the first political parties to congratulate Salihi on his new role and the ITC preparing to re-open its bureau in Erbil, which has been closed since 2003. But in fact, these new balances also cleared the path to new polarizations in the region. Forces in these regions were becoming uncomfortable over the changing balances and over the compromising policies being adopted by both Turkey and the Iraqi Turkmens. To wit, three Turkish workers who were kidnapped on Feb. 15 in Kirkuk were held for 70 days in the largely Arab village of Dogmat near the Kirkuk-Reshad area. For the last seven days of their captivity, they were buried in a ditch and covered with soil, only able to breathe plastic pipes inserted in the ground. It is a clear reality that no proposals for solutions that ignore the Arabs in the region will bring any peace to Kirkuk or other disputed regions. In the same way, Turkmens and Kurds cannot be discounted by any possible solutions either. For this reason, dialogue between the various sides needs to occur with careful observation and attention to the delicate balances in the area. Only this will help bring down the tension.
HASAN KANBOLAT
h.kanbolat@todayszaman.com
Today's Zaman
Why violence against Turkmens in Iraq is increasing
According to a decision made in the first week of May in the Iraqi Turkmen parliament, the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) is to be re-structured. The new head ITC member of parliament and ITC Kirkuk City president is Erşat Salihi.
One week after the new political restructuring of the ITC, on the morning of May 12, Erşat Salihi's Kirkuk home was attacked. Despite the fact that his house was guarded, the attacker succeeded in tossing explosives into his house and planting mines around the outside of the home. And thus, the first large-scale attack on a Turkmen leader in Iraq took place. Luckily, no one was hurt during these events, even though Salihi and his family were at home during the attack. But the fact that the convoy of Kirkuk Police Chief Cemal Tahir was attacked as Tahir and his team returned from inspecting the evidence at Salihi's home shows that whoever carried out these attacks was very organized and resolute in their actions.
These days, low-intensity violence is simply a part of daily life throughout Iraq. And this violence, which kills anywhere between 10-100 people a day, does not actually affect daily life anymore. In fact, the Iraqi people have begun to view this sort of non-mass violence as normal. At the same time, one must not compare the attack against Salihi to other violence occurring in Iraq these days. In response to the significance of this particular attack, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs even issued a special declaration (on May 12) condemning it.
As for Erşat Salihi, he said that while he had been expecting an attack, he was not able to blame any particular faction for it. If this event was carried out with the intent of relaying a political message, who was behind it and what were the contents of the message? The Turkmens, despite being one of the three founding groups of Iraq, were not really present in Iraqi politics until the March 7, 2010 general elections, when they were suddenly for the first time represented by three ministers, as well as the Kirkuk provincial presidency. So have some factions been made uncomfortable by the presence of Turkmens on the Iraqi political stage? Does it bother some that the Turkmens are learning the art of politics? Was the message actually intended for Turkey via the Turkmens? Or is it Turkey's, as well as the Iraqi Turkmen's, changing Kurdish policies that were at play in this attack? We need to look at the recent past to find some answers here.
The ITC was formed in 1995 in Erbil. At the time, the Turkmen slogan was “Erbil is Turkish and will remain Turkish!” But the fact that the PKK was being sheltered in Northern Iraq and slipping over the border into Turkey and that the Iraqi Kurds were allowing the PKK to be active, wound up causing rifts between the Iraqi Kurds and both Turkey and the Iraqi Turkmens. After the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the ITC headquarters moved to Kirkuk from Erbil. Influential in this move were the formation of the Kurdistan Regional Authority and the ITC's acceptance of the name “Kurdistan,” as well as the fact that Kirkuk was shown as lying within the borders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) maps of regional leadership. When the ITC headquarters moved to Kirkuk, the new slogan for Iraqi Turkmen became “Kirkuk is Turkish, and will remain Turkish!”
Over recent years, as Turkey's Kurdish policies have softened and their relations with Iraqi Kurds have improved, relations between the Iraqi Turkmen and the Iraqi Kurds also began to soften and improve. In fact, it was precisely this improved atmosphere that helped the Iraqi Turkmens successfully win over the Kirkuk provincial presidency. Events such as Turkey's opening a consulate in Erbil, visits to the region by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Industry Minister Zafer Çağlayan, Interior Affairs Minister Beşir Atalay, and then a visit to Erbil by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on March 29 were all crucial in helping overcome the lack of trust that had existed between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds, as well as between Iraqi Turkmens and Iraqi Kurds.
Other fundamental steps that helped the atmosphere were the KDP inviting the ITC to its congress, the ITC approaching Iraqi Kurds more positively, the KYB being one of the first political parties to congratulate Salihi on his new role and the ITC preparing to re-open its bureau in Erbil, which has been closed since 2003. But in fact, these new balances also cleared the path to new polarizations in the region. Forces in these regions were becoming uncomfortable over the changing balances and over the compromising policies being adopted by both Turkey and the Iraqi Turkmens. To wit, three Turkish workers who were kidnapped on Feb. 15 in Kirkuk were held for 70 days in the largely Arab village of Dogmat near the Kirkuk-Reshad area. For the last seven days of their captivity, they were buried in a ditch and covered with soil, only able to breathe plastic pipes inserted in the ground. It is a clear reality that no proposals for solutions that ignore the Arabs in the region will bring any peace to Kirkuk or other disputed regions. In the same way, Turkmens and Kurds cannot be discounted by any possible solutions either. For this reason, dialogue between the various sides needs to occur with careful observation and attention to the delicate balances in the area. Only this will help bring down the tension.
dimanche 15 mai 2011
The Iraqi Turkmen Front, remade. By Hasan Kanbolat
The Iraqi Turkmen Front, remade
13 May 2011, Friday
HASAN KANBOLAT
h.kanbolat@todayszaman.com
Ever since the Ottoman state lostIraq, Iraqi Turkmens have been viewed as an extension of Turkey. For this reason, they have always been subject to great pressure within Iraq.
There have been many attempts to eliminate both their cultural as well as their political identities. Their political leaders and intellectuals have been executed. They have been forced to struggle hard against policies of forced Arabization and Kurdification. These pressures placed on Iraqi Turkmen have paved the way for Turkmens to turn inwards and not be represented adequately in Iraqi politics. In the wake of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the exclusion of Turkmens from Iraqi politics has continued. But as democratic initiatives began to take root in Iraq, the Turkmens, as one of the three founding groups in the nation, finally began to claim their rightful place in Iraqi politics.Within this framework, Turkmens successfully brought forward 10 MPs in the March 7, 2010 general elections in Iraq, and for the first time were represented by three government ministers. Hasan Turan, an Iraqi Turkmen, was elected parliamentary head of Kirkuk province.
An increased representation by Turkmens in Iraqi politics has also been reflected in the inner politics among the Turkmens themselves. The most influential Turkmen organization from the perspective of electoral representation inIraqis the Iraq Turkmen Front (ITC). And the inner ranks of the ITC have undergone a transformation. Following a decision made in the first week of May in the Iraqi Turkmen Parliament, the ITC will be reorganized. ITC President Saddettin Ergeç has turned over his duties to MP and ITC Kirkuk City President Erşat Salihi, while it has also been announced that Ergeç is now the honorary president of the ITC. When one looks at the new names within the ITC, one sees they fully represent Turkmen-inhabited regions ofIraq. It is significant that names like Ali Mehdi and Hasan Turan, who both help head up influential Turkmen parties such as the Turkmen Party and the Turkmen Justice Party, are part of the ITC.
In addition to a change in ITC heads, there is also a new governing board of the ITC in place, which will oversee operations until the new congress. With the new seven-person government board and the new system, the governing board and the central decision board will have regular monthly meetings as the “Central Decision Governing Board.” All important political decisions are to emerge from these meetings. Another important decision with regards to the ITC’s inner workings was made with regards to the Turkmen parliament. Although this parliament previously worked within the ranks of the ITC, it has now been separated out from the ITC, and has been made into an autonomous institution encompassing all of the various Turkmen political organizations. It could be then said that the full and complete formation of the new ITC will take place only after the law, still in rough form, concerning political parties inIraqhas been completed and passed.
Taking a brief look at the recent history of the ITC, we see it was formed in 1995 in Arbil to prevent chaos and disorganization in the Turkmen political movements in the region; in other words, its aim was to provide a roof for varying Turkmen political movements. In 1995, the first ITC president, Turhan Ketene, was replaced by Sinan Çelebi, the current industry and trade minister for the Kurdistan Regional Authority. In 1997 the First Turkmen General Assembly took place, and Vedat Arslan, who was also previously a minister for the Kurdish Regional Authority, was elected as ITC president. At the Second General Assembly in 2000, Sanan Ahmet Ağa was elected as ITC president. After the US invasion of Iraq, the Third General Assembly took place in Kirkuk, between Sept. 12-15, and at this Faruk Abdullah Abdurrahman was elected president.
There was also a decision made to transfer the ITC headquarters toKirkukat that point. Influential in this decision was the formation of the Kurdistan Regional Authority, and the acceptance by the ITC of the name “Kurdistan,” as well as the fact that Kirkuk was shown by both the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) as lying within the borders of their regional leadership. But the movement of the ITC general headquarters from Arbil to Kirkuk caused a vacuum within the Turkmen political movement in Northern Iraq. With support extended from various Kurdish groups there were separations that took place from the ITC.
At the fourth and fifth General Assemblies of the ITC, which took place in 2005 and 2008, Ergeç was once again elected as president of the organization. After the 2008 ITC General Assembly a regional election law forIraqwas passed. With the aim of participating in approaching elections, the ITC declared itself a proper political party, and thus stopped being a “roof-providing organization” for other political parties. And so, political parties that were still in the ranks of the ITC were suddenly excluded. This decision can be seen as the real start of a period of transformation for the ITC, which picked up a government ministry position for the first time ever in the wake of the 2010 elections.
13 May 2011, Friday
HASAN KANBOLAT
h.kanbolat@todayszaman.com
Ever since the Ottoman state lostIraq, Iraqi Turkmens have been viewed as an extension of Turkey. For this reason, they have always been subject to great pressure within Iraq.
There have been many attempts to eliminate both their cultural as well as their political identities. Their political leaders and intellectuals have been executed. They have been forced to struggle hard against policies of forced Arabization and Kurdification. These pressures placed on Iraqi Turkmen have paved the way for Turkmens to turn inwards and not be represented adequately in Iraqi politics. In the wake of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the exclusion of Turkmens from Iraqi politics has continued. But as democratic initiatives began to take root in Iraq, the Turkmens, as one of the three founding groups in the nation, finally began to claim their rightful place in Iraqi politics.Within this framework, Turkmens successfully brought forward 10 MPs in the March 7, 2010 general elections in Iraq, and for the first time were represented by three government ministers. Hasan Turan, an Iraqi Turkmen, was elected parliamentary head of Kirkuk province.
An increased representation by Turkmens in Iraqi politics has also been reflected in the inner politics among the Turkmens themselves. The most influential Turkmen organization from the perspective of electoral representation inIraqis the Iraq Turkmen Front (ITC). And the inner ranks of the ITC have undergone a transformation. Following a decision made in the first week of May in the Iraqi Turkmen Parliament, the ITC will be reorganized. ITC President Saddettin Ergeç has turned over his duties to MP and ITC Kirkuk City President Erşat Salihi, while it has also been announced that Ergeç is now the honorary president of the ITC. When one looks at the new names within the ITC, one sees they fully represent Turkmen-inhabited regions ofIraq. It is significant that names like Ali Mehdi and Hasan Turan, who both help head up influential Turkmen parties such as the Turkmen Party and the Turkmen Justice Party, are part of the ITC.
In addition to a change in ITC heads, there is also a new governing board of the ITC in place, which will oversee operations until the new congress. With the new seven-person government board and the new system, the governing board and the central decision board will have regular monthly meetings as the “Central Decision Governing Board.” All important political decisions are to emerge from these meetings. Another important decision with regards to the ITC’s inner workings was made with regards to the Turkmen parliament. Although this parliament previously worked within the ranks of the ITC, it has now been separated out from the ITC, and has been made into an autonomous institution encompassing all of the various Turkmen political organizations. It could be then said that the full and complete formation of the new ITC will take place only after the law, still in rough form, concerning political parties inIraqhas been completed and passed.
Taking a brief look at the recent history of the ITC, we see it was formed in 1995 in Arbil to prevent chaos and disorganization in the Turkmen political movements in the region; in other words, its aim was to provide a roof for varying Turkmen political movements. In 1995, the first ITC president, Turhan Ketene, was replaced by Sinan Çelebi, the current industry and trade minister for the Kurdistan Regional Authority. In 1997 the First Turkmen General Assembly took place, and Vedat Arslan, who was also previously a minister for the Kurdish Regional Authority, was elected as ITC president. At the Second General Assembly in 2000, Sanan Ahmet Ağa was elected as ITC president. After the US invasion of Iraq, the Third General Assembly took place in Kirkuk, between Sept. 12-15, and at this Faruk Abdullah Abdurrahman was elected president.
There was also a decision made to transfer the ITC headquarters toKirkukat that point. Influential in this decision was the formation of the Kurdistan Regional Authority, and the acceptance by the ITC of the name “Kurdistan,” as well as the fact that Kirkuk was shown by both the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) as lying within the borders of their regional leadership. But the movement of the ITC general headquarters from Arbil to Kirkuk caused a vacuum within the Turkmen political movement in Northern Iraq. With support extended from various Kurdish groups there were separations that took place from the ITC.
At the fourth and fifth General Assemblies of the ITC, which took place in 2005 and 2008, Ergeç was once again elected as president of the organization. After the 2008 ITC General Assembly a regional election law forIraqwas passed. With the aim of participating in approaching elections, the ITC declared itself a proper political party, and thus stopped being a “roof-providing organization” for other political parties. And so, political parties that were still in the ranks of the ITC were suddenly excluded. This decision can be seen as the real start of a period of transformation for the ITC, which picked up a government ministry position for the first time ever in the wake of the 2010 elections.
samedi 14 mai 2011
While Bahrain Demolishes Mosques, U.S. Stays Silent
Published on Sunday, May 8, 2011 by the McClatchy Newspapers While Bahrain Demolishes Mosques, U.S. Stays Silent
by Roy Gutman
MANAMA, Bahrain — In the ancient Bahraini village of Aali, where some graves date to 2000 B.C., the Amir Mohammed Braighi mosque had stood for more than 400 years — one of the handsomest Shiite Muslim mosques in this small island nation in the Persian Gulf.
In Nwaidrat, where anti-government protests began Feb. 14, the Mo'men mosque had long been a center for the town's Shiite population — photos show it as a handsome, square building neatly painted in ochre, with white and green trim, and a short portico in dark gray forming the main entrance.
Today, only the portico remains.
"When I was a child, I used to go and pray with my grandfather," said a 52-year-old local resident, who asked to be called only "Abu Hadi. "The area used to be totally green, with tiers of sweet water wells."
"Why did they destroy this mosque?" Abu Hadi wailed. "Muslims have prayed there for decades."
In Shiite villages across this island kingdom of 1.2 million, the Sunni Muslim government has bulldozed dozens of mosques as part of a crackdown on Shiite dissidents, an assault on human rights that is breathtaking in its expansiveness.
Authorities have held secret trials where protesters have been sentenced to death, arrested prominent mainstream opposition politicians, jailed nurses and doctors who treated injured protesters, seized the health care system that had been run primarily by Shiites, fired 1,000 Shiite professionals and canceled their pensions, detained students and teachers who took part in the protests, beat and arrested journalists, and forced the closure of the only opposition newspaper.
Nothing, however, has struck harder at the fabric of this nation, where Shiites outnumber Sunnis nearly 4 to 1, than the destruction of Shiite worship centers.
The Obama administration has said nothing in public about the destruction.
Bahrain — and its patron, Saudi Arabia — are longtime U.S. allies, and Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.
Members of the Shiite opposition assembled a list of 27 mosques and other religious structures demolished or damaged in the crackdown. A tour by McClatchy of several townships suggests the number of buildings destroyed is far greater.
The demolitions are carried out daily, Shiite leaders say, with work crews often arriving in the dead of night, accompanied by police and military escorts. In many cases, the workers have hauled away the rubble, leaving no trace, before townspeople awake.
Bahrain's minister of justice and Islamic affairs, Sheikh Khalid bin Ali bin Abdulla al Khalifa, defended the demolitions in an interview, claiming that any mosque demolished had been built illegally, recently, and without permission.
"These are not mosques. These are illegal buildings," he said.
That claim, however, is easily challenged. In Aali, for example, the government rerouted a planned highway some years back so as to preserve the Amir Mohammed Braighi mosque, residents say.
McClatchy visited three other sites where "before" photos of the destroyed mosques showed they were well maintained, decades-old structures.
Some sites had a wistful air. At the Sheikh Aabed Mosque in the village of Sitra, once a ramshackle building that residents said was more than a century old, prayer rugs and other religious paraphernalia covered the ground.
On Wednesday, the State Department told McClatchy that it's "concerned by the destruction of religious sites." The statement noted that the Bahraini government had international obligations to preserve the common cultural heritage.
In private, U.S. officials are harsher. One, who's not in Bahrain, said that by bulldozing Shiite mosques and persecuting the political opposition, the government was treating its people like a "captive population."
Another U.S. official visiting the area described the Sunni leadership as "vindictive" and indicated the Obama administration was deeply worried about Bahrain's rapid downward spiral. Both officials asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Shiites have long complained of bias and discrimination here, despite massively outnumbering the entrenched Khalifa dynasty, whose prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa ibn Salman al Khalifa, 75, has held the office for the past 40 years — a current world record.
In mid-March, the government, after a month of protests, abandoned dialogue with moderate Shiites and Sunnis and invited Saudi Arabia to dispatch some 1,500 troops to help quell the unrest. The government imposed a state of emergency and began a crackdown on dissent. Among the first government acts after Saudi troops arrived was the destruction of the iconic Pearl Square, the traffic circle where demonstrators had camped out for weeks.
The government even recalled the half-dinar coins that featured the roundabout.
Most ominous is that hate speech of the sort that preceded the 1994 Rwandan genocide is now allowed in public. The pro-government English language Gulf Daily News last Sunday gave prominence to a reader's letter that compared Shiites to "termites" that should be exterminated.
"The moral is: to get rid of the white ants so they don't come back . . . " said the letter, signed only, "Sana P S."
Bahrain television has carried the canard that the Shiite sect allows its followers to lie, implying that what they say can't be trusted.
The crackdown also threatens to turn what had been an internal conflict into an international one.
Shiite led-Iran, which lies across the Gulf, is actively vying for influence in this predominantly Shiite state and has condemned the organized destruction of Shiite culture. The upheaval also has stirred passions in Shiite-ruled Iraq.
But Arab language television channels, including Al Jazeera, which is owned by the emir of Qatar, and Al Arabiya, which is Saudi owned, have been mostly silent about the wanton destruction.
Interviewed Monday, Sheikh Khalid, the justice minister, brought Arabic language spreadsheets stating the reasons for destruction as well as a book of records of the demolition program, complete with photographs. But he couldn't locate a reference to or photographs of Nwaidrat's Mo'men mosque in his briefing book, which listed all structures by number, not name.
He declined to provide a copy of the briefing book or the spreadsheet to McClatchy, saying they were "internal correspondence," and asked that no photograph be taken of him holding the briefing book.
Asked whether tearing down a long-standing, functioning place of worship would be viewed as a criminal offense in Bahrain, Sheikh Khalid appeared taken aback.
"If there is a fault or a mistake and (they) can prove it, the same place will be rebuilt in a much, much better shape," he later said.
And if they were operating under the law, why did the state demolition crews destroy the building after dark, when residents couldn't photograph the action?
"It is very difficult to do it in the morning. It is a kind of respect for people's psychology," Sheikh Khalid replied. "We were trying to put it in a way that it will not hurt he people. At least they do not see it while it is being demolished."
Because the material he was provided didn't list mosques by name, the justice minister also couldn't say for sure whether other religious structures visited by McClatchy were old construction, new construction, legal or illegal, or on private or public land.
He said there'd been 41 "procedures" against religious structures in Bahrain's capital, Manama, but in many instances, those taken down were just temporary structures. He could only point to two Sunni religious structures that had been taken down.
Sheikh Khalid himself had earlier stated publicly that Bahrain had approximately 600 religious structures, and only 10 percent had been demolished. But he declined to confirm that figure.
Every foreign resident and most Bahrainis contacted by McClatchy seemed deeply discouraged about the future of communal relations on this once-promising island, but Justice Minister Khalid disagreed.
"I think we've reached the maximum bottom we can reach," he said. "My conviction is that things will not get much worse." One day later, he chaired a press conference where he announced plans for the trial of 47 doctors and other medical personnel.
Asked Monday if the trial might not remind many abroad of the show-trials that dictators such as Joseph Stalin had held, Sheikh Khalid said quietly, "There were also trials of doctors at Nuremberg."
He was referring to the trials of 21 physicians who took part in the Nazi program to euthanize the mentally ill, retarded and physically disabled or in medical experiments on patients without their permission.
Hannah Allam in Cairo contributed to this story.
© 2011 McClatchy Newspapers.
by Roy Gutman
MANAMA, Bahrain — In the ancient Bahraini village of Aali, where some graves date to 2000 B.C., the Amir Mohammed Braighi mosque had stood for more than 400 years — one of the handsomest Shiite Muslim mosques in this small island nation in the Persian Gulf.
Braigh mosque in Bahrain before destruction. Today, only bulldozer tracks remain.
In Nwaidrat, where anti-government protests began Feb. 14, the Mo'men mosque had long been a center for the town's Shiite population — photos show it as a handsome, square building neatly painted in ochre, with white and green trim, and a short portico in dark gray forming the main entrance.
Today, only the portico remains.
"When I was a child, I used to go and pray with my grandfather," said a 52-year-old local resident, who asked to be called only "Abu Hadi. "The area used to be totally green, with tiers of sweet water wells."
"Why did they destroy this mosque?" Abu Hadi wailed. "Muslims have prayed there for decades."
In Shiite villages across this island kingdom of 1.2 million, the Sunni Muslim government has bulldozed dozens of mosques as part of a crackdown on Shiite dissidents, an assault on human rights that is breathtaking in its expansiveness.
Authorities have held secret trials where protesters have been sentenced to death, arrested prominent mainstream opposition politicians, jailed nurses and doctors who treated injured protesters, seized the health care system that had been run primarily by Shiites, fired 1,000 Shiite professionals and canceled their pensions, detained students and teachers who took part in the protests, beat and arrested journalists, and forced the closure of the only opposition newspaper.
Nothing, however, has struck harder at the fabric of this nation, where Shiites outnumber Sunnis nearly 4 to 1, than the destruction of Shiite worship centers.
The Obama administration has said nothing in public about the destruction.
Bahrain — and its patron, Saudi Arabia — are longtime U.S. allies, and Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.
Members of the Shiite opposition assembled a list of 27 mosques and other religious structures demolished or damaged in the crackdown. A tour by McClatchy of several townships suggests the number of buildings destroyed is far greater.
The demolitions are carried out daily, Shiite leaders say, with work crews often arriving in the dead of night, accompanied by police and military escorts. In many cases, the workers have hauled away the rubble, leaving no trace, before townspeople awake.
Bahrain's minister of justice and Islamic affairs, Sheikh Khalid bin Ali bin Abdulla al Khalifa, defended the demolitions in an interview, claiming that any mosque demolished had been built illegally, recently, and without permission.
"These are not mosques. These are illegal buildings," he said.
That claim, however, is easily challenged. In Aali, for example, the government rerouted a planned highway some years back so as to preserve the Amir Mohammed Braighi mosque, residents say.
McClatchy visited three other sites where "before" photos of the destroyed mosques showed they were well maintained, decades-old structures.
Some sites had a wistful air. At the Sheikh Aabed Mosque in the village of Sitra, once a ramshackle building that residents said was more than a century old, prayer rugs and other religious paraphernalia covered the ground.
On Wednesday, the State Department told McClatchy that it's "concerned by the destruction of religious sites." The statement noted that the Bahraini government had international obligations to preserve the common cultural heritage.
In private, U.S. officials are harsher. One, who's not in Bahrain, said that by bulldozing Shiite mosques and persecuting the political opposition, the government was treating its people like a "captive population."
Another U.S. official visiting the area described the Sunni leadership as "vindictive" and indicated the Obama administration was deeply worried about Bahrain's rapid downward spiral. Both officials asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Shiites have long complained of bias and discrimination here, despite massively outnumbering the entrenched Khalifa dynasty, whose prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa ibn Salman al Khalifa, 75, has held the office for the past 40 years — a current world record.
In mid-March, the government, after a month of protests, abandoned dialogue with moderate Shiites and Sunnis and invited Saudi Arabia to dispatch some 1,500 troops to help quell the unrest. The government imposed a state of emergency and began a crackdown on dissent. Among the first government acts after Saudi troops arrived was the destruction of the iconic Pearl Square, the traffic circle where demonstrators had camped out for weeks.
The government even recalled the half-dinar coins that featured the roundabout.
Most ominous is that hate speech of the sort that preceded the 1994 Rwandan genocide is now allowed in public. The pro-government English language Gulf Daily News last Sunday gave prominence to a reader's letter that compared Shiites to "termites" that should be exterminated.
"The moral is: to get rid of the white ants so they don't come back . . . " said the letter, signed only, "Sana P S."
Bahrain television has carried the canard that the Shiite sect allows its followers to lie, implying that what they say can't be trusted.
The crackdown also threatens to turn what had been an internal conflict into an international one.
Shiite led-Iran, which lies across the Gulf, is actively vying for influence in this predominantly Shiite state and has condemned the organized destruction of Shiite culture. The upheaval also has stirred passions in Shiite-ruled Iraq.
But Arab language television channels, including Al Jazeera, which is owned by the emir of Qatar, and Al Arabiya, which is Saudi owned, have been mostly silent about the wanton destruction.
Interviewed Monday, Sheikh Khalid, the justice minister, brought Arabic language spreadsheets stating the reasons for destruction as well as a book of records of the demolition program, complete with photographs. But he couldn't locate a reference to or photographs of Nwaidrat's Mo'men mosque in his briefing book, which listed all structures by number, not name.
He declined to provide a copy of the briefing book or the spreadsheet to McClatchy, saying they were "internal correspondence," and asked that no photograph be taken of him holding the briefing book.
Asked whether tearing down a long-standing, functioning place of worship would be viewed as a criminal offense in Bahrain, Sheikh Khalid appeared taken aback.
"If there is a fault or a mistake and (they) can prove it, the same place will be rebuilt in a much, much better shape," he later said.
And if they were operating under the law, why did the state demolition crews destroy the building after dark, when residents couldn't photograph the action?
"It is very difficult to do it in the morning. It is a kind of respect for people's psychology," Sheikh Khalid replied. "We were trying to put it in a way that it will not hurt he people. At least they do not see it while it is being demolished."
Because the material he was provided didn't list mosques by name, the justice minister also couldn't say for sure whether other religious structures visited by McClatchy were old construction, new construction, legal or illegal, or on private or public land.
He said there'd been 41 "procedures" against religious structures in Bahrain's capital, Manama, but in many instances, those taken down were just temporary structures. He could only point to two Sunni religious structures that had been taken down.
Sheikh Khalid himself had earlier stated publicly that Bahrain had approximately 600 religious structures, and only 10 percent had been demolished. But he declined to confirm that figure.
Every foreign resident and most Bahrainis contacted by McClatchy seemed deeply discouraged about the future of communal relations on this once-promising island, but Justice Minister Khalid disagreed.
"I think we've reached the maximum bottom we can reach," he said. "My conviction is that things will not get much worse." One day later, he chaired a press conference where he announced plans for the trial of 47 doctors and other medical personnel.
Asked Monday if the trial might not remind many abroad of the show-trials that dictators such as Joseph Stalin had held, Sheikh Khalid said quietly, "There were also trials of doctors at Nuremberg."
He was referring to the trials of 21 physicians who took part in the Nazi program to euthanize the mentally ill, retarded and physically disabled or in medical experiments on patients without their permission.
Hannah Allam in Cairo contributed to this story.
© 2011 McClatchy Newspapers.
vendredi 13 mai 2011
Türkmen Lideri'nin Evine Bombalı Saldırı – VİDEO
VİDEO:
http://www.kerkuk.net/tr/index.php/flash-haber/264-turkmen-liderinin-evine-bombali-saldiri-video-
Cuma, 13 Mayıs 2011 11:02
7 Mayıs'ta Irak Türkmen Cephesi ITC başkanlığına seçilen Kerkük milletvekili Erşet Salihi'nin evine sabah 05:30 civarında bombalı saldırı düzenlendi.
Saldırıda ölen ya da yaralanan bulunmazken evde ciddi hasar oluşturdu. Evde inceleme yapan ekipler ilk etapta füze saldırısından şüphelendi ancak yapılan inceleme ile saldırının bomba atılarak yapıldığı tespit edildi. Ekipler ayrıca ev çevresinde de 2 adet patlamamış bomba buldu. Olaydan sonra Kerkük Polis Müdürü Cemal Tahir ve çok sayıda yetkili, Salihi'nin evine geldi. Başkan Salihi, "Bu tür saldırılar bizi ve milletimizi yıldıramaz" dedi. (Ahmet Haşim MUHTAROĞLU-DHA)
Son Güncelleme: Cuma, 13 Mayıs 2011 11:07
http://www.kerkuk.net/tr/index.php/flash-haber/264-turkmen-liderinin-evine-bombali-saldiri-video-
Cuma, 13 Mayıs 2011 11:02
7 Mayıs'ta Irak Türkmen Cephesi ITC başkanlığına seçilen Kerkük milletvekili Erşet Salihi'nin evine sabah 05:30 civarında bombalı saldırı düzenlendi.
Saldırıda ölen ya da yaralanan bulunmazken evde ciddi hasar oluşturdu. Evde inceleme yapan ekipler ilk etapta füze saldırısından şüphelendi ancak yapılan inceleme ile saldırının bomba atılarak yapıldığı tespit edildi. Ekipler ayrıca ev çevresinde de 2 adet patlamamış bomba buldu. Olaydan sonra Kerkük Polis Müdürü Cemal Tahir ve çok sayıda yetkili, Salihi'nin evine geldi. Başkan Salihi, "Bu tür saldırılar bizi ve milletimizi yıldıramaz" dedi. (Ahmet Haşim MUHTAROĞLU-DHA)
Son Güncelleme: Cuma, 13 Mayıs 2011 11:07
Irak Türkmen Cephesi Başkanı Erşat Salihi’ye Yapılan Saldırının Analizi
Bilgay DUMAN, ORSAM Ortadoğu Uzmanı
http://www.orsam.org.tr/tr/yazigoster.aspx?ID=1877
Irak’ta Türkmen halkı, Irak Türkmen Cephesi (ITC) ve siyasi hareketindeki değişimin heyecanını yaşarken, 12 Mayıs sabahı Irak Türkmen Cephesi’nin yeni başkanı ve Kerkük Milletvekili Erşat Salihi’nin evine yapılan saldırı ile sarsıldı. Erşat Salihi ve ailesi evde iken, sabah saat 5:45 civarında yapılan saldırıda, kimsenin canının yanmaması sevindirici olurken, Erşat Salihi’nin yıkılan eviyle birlikte çevresindeki bazı evler de zarar gördü. Ardından olay yerini incelemeye gelen ve incelemelerden sonra olay yerinden ayrılırken Kerkük Emniyet Müdürü Cemal Tahir’in konvoyuna yapılan saldırıyla birlikte olay daha da derinleşmiş gözüküyor.
Öncelikle şiddet eylemleriyle özdeşleşen Irak için patlamalar doğal hayatın bir parası olarak kabul edilirken, Erşat Salihi’ye yönelik saldırının, Irak’taki herhangi bir saldırıyla karıştırılmaması gerektiğini söylemek mümkün. Zira daha önce birçok Türkmen yetkilisine saldırı yapılmasına rağmen, ITC Başkanlığı görevine gelmesinin üzerinden daha bir hafta bile geçmeden Erşat Salihi’ye yönelik bu saldırı düşündürücü. Erşat Salihi, milliyetçi görüşleriyle tanınan, cesur, açık sözlü ve Türkmen davasına maddi manevi büyük katkılar sağlamış bir ailenin mensubu olarak biliniyor. Özellikle 2008’de Irak Türkmen Cephesi Kerkük İl Başkanlığı görevini yürüttükten sonra Kerkük’teki Türkmenleri ayakta tutan siyasetçilerin başında geliyor. Zaten göreve geldiği gün yaptığı açıklamada da milliyetçi ve cesur tavrını, Kerkük konusunda taviz verilmeyeceğini, Kürt partilerin bu konuda geri adım atması gerektiğini, Kerkük’ün herhangi bir bölgeye katılmasının kırmızı çizgileri olduğunu ve buna karşı olduklarını dile getirerek belli etmiştir.
Göreve geldiği ilk günden itibaren bu denli cesur konuşmalar yapan Erşat Salihi’ye yönelik yapılan saldırının bir mesaj niteliği taşıdığını söylemek yanlış olmayacaktır. Ancak yapılan saldırının tarafının belli olmaması, Türkmenleri kaygılandırmaktadır. Erşat Salihi’de saldırı sonrasında yaptığı açıklamada, bu saldırıları zaten beklediklerini, ancak saldırı nedeniyle herhangi bir tarafı suçlayamayacağını dile getirmiştir. Saldırının yapılış şekli de göz önünde bulundurulduğunda planlı ve geniş düşünülmüş bir saldırı niteliğinde olduğu söylenebilir. Zira Irak’taki her siyasetçi gibi Erşat Salihi’nin de evi korunmaktadır. Ancak nasıl olduğu şimdilik bilinmeyen bir bombalama yöntemiyle evinin tavanında açılan geniş boşluktan içeriye patlayıcı kimyasal madde dolu bidonların atılması ve bununla birlikte evinin etrafına mayın döşenmesi dikkat çekicidir. Irak’ta özellikle Türkmen liderlere yönelik yapılan eylemler dikkate alındığında, ilk kez bu tarzda ve bu büyüklükte bir eylemle karşılaşıldığını ifade etmek mümkündür. Olay yerine güvenlik güçlerinin çabuk intikal etmesi ve güvenlik unsurlarının olaya hemen müdahale etmesinin daha büyük çapta olayların çıkmasına engel olduğu düşünülmektedir.
Olayın siyasi yönü bir yana sebebi ne olursa olsun böylesine planlı ve geniş kapsamlı bir eylemin terörizminden başka bir durumla özdeşleştirmek mümkün gözükmemektedir. Zira Türk Dışişleri Bakanlığı da bu saldırıya yönelik yayınladığı kınama mesajında, saldırıyı terör eylemi olarak nitelendirmiştir. Bakanlıktan yapılan açıklamada; “Irak Türkmen Cephesi Başkanı Erşad Salihi’nin Kerkük’teki evine patlayıcı düzenekler yerleştirilerek bir saldırı düzenlendiği üzüntüyle öğrenilmiştir. Saldırının gerçekleştirildiği sırada evde bulunan Erşad Salihi ve ailesinin olaydan yara almadan kurtulmuş olmaları teselli kaynağımızdır. Bu menfur terör eylemini şiddetle kınıyoruz. Bu hain saldırının fail veya faillerinin bir an önce tespit edilerek kanun önüne çıkarılması ülkenin huzur ve istikrarını tesise dönük çabaların başarıya ulaşması bakımından önem taşımaktadır. Irak’ın kurucu unsurlarından olan Irak Türkmenlerinin, Irak’ın istikrarı, birliği ve huzuruna yönelik bu tür eylemler karşısında itidallerini koruyacaklarından ve sağduyuyla hareket edeceklerinden, böylece terör eylemleriyle amaçlanan haince emelleri akim bırakacaklarından herhangi bir kuşkumuz bulunmamaktadır. Irak Türkmen Cephesi Başkanı Erşad Salihi ve ailesine, Iraklı Türkmen kardeşlerimize ve tüm Irak halkına geçmiş olsun dileklerimizi iletiyoruz”, ifadeleri kullanılmıştır.
Türk Dışişleri Bakanlığı’nın kınama mesajında da yer verildiği gibi, yeni bir siyasi yapılanma içerisine giren Türkmen halkının itidalli davranması ve kışkırtmalara alet olmaması gerektiği düşünülmektedir. Türkmenlere yönelik yapılan bu saldırılar tabii ki unutulmayacaktır. Ancak Türkmenler Irak siyasetinde de yükselişe geçmiştir. Irak’ta ilk kez 3 bakanla temsil edilen Türkmenler, Kerkük Vilayet Başkanlığını da seçimle elde etmiştir. ITC ve Türkmen Meclisindeki değişiklikle birlikte Türkmenler yeni bir süreçten geçmektedir. Gittikçe güçlenen ve daha sağlam adımlarla ilerleyen Türkmenlerin içerisinden geçtiği bu süreci baltalamak isteyen taraflar olabilir. Burada Türkmenlere düşen görevin bu saldırılar karşısında yılmak ve ayrılığa düşmek değil, birlik ve beraberlik içerisinde, demokratik yollarla kendi haklarını aramak olduğu düşünülmektedir.
Erşat Salihi Kimdir?
1959’da Kerkük’ün Musalla Mahallesinde doğmuştur. İlk, orta ve lise öğrenimini Kerkük’te tamamlayan Erşat Salihi, 1978’de Bağdat Üniversitesi Fen Fakültesi’ni kazanmıştır. Ortaokul yıllarından itibaren Türkmen Milli Hareketleri içerisinde yer almaya başlayan Salihi, üniversite döneminde de faaliyetlerine devam etmiştir. Bu faaliyetleri nedeniyle 1979 yılında “Türkmen Milli Hareketlerine katılmak” suçuyla Baas Partisi tarafından tutuklanmış ve 10 yıl hapis cezasına çarptırılmıştır. 9 yıl Ebu Garib Hapishanesi’nde özel siyasi mahkumların tutulduğu bölümde mahkum olarak kalan Erşat Salihi’nin ağabeyi de Baas Rejimi tarafından idam edilmiş ve ailesi de Kerkük’ten Irak’ın güneyindeki vilayetlere sürgün edilmiştir. Saddam Hüseyin rejiminin devrilmesinin ardından 2003 yılında Kerkük’te Irak Türkmen Cephesi’nin Musalla Bürosu Sorumluluğuna getirilen Erşat Salihi, 2004 yılında Irak Türkmen Cephesi Suriye Temsilcisi olarak görev yapmıştır. Suriye’de de 4 sene görev yapan Erşat Salihi, 2008’de Irak Türkmen Cephesi Kurultayı ile birlikte Kerkük İl Başkanlığı görevini yapmaya başlamıştır. 7 Mart 2010’da Irak’ta yapılan seçimlerde Kerkük’ten milletvekili olmaya hak kazanan Erşat Salihi, Mayıs 2011 itibariyle de Irak Türkmen Cephesi’nin yeni başkanı olarak görevini sürdürmektedir.
jeudi 12 mai 2011
Türkmen Cephesi Başkanı’nın evine roket düştü – Attack on the home of the President of Iraqi Turkmen Front
May 12, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Türkmen Cephesi Başkanı’nın evine roket düştü
12 Mayıs 2011 Perşembe – 14:40
The Home of IRAQI TURKMEN FRONT President Erşed Salihi in Kerkuk was attacked this morning
http://www.turkiyegazetesi.com/haberdetay.aspx?NewsID=777448
Irak Türkmen Cephesi Başkanı Erşed Salihi’ye yakın bir kaynak, bu sabah bir roketin Salihi’nin Kerkük’ün Bağdat yolu üzerindeki El Mahlac bölgesindeki evine düştüğünü, evin içindeki Salihi ve ailesinin saldırıdan yara almadan kurtulduğunu belirtti.
BAĞDAT – AA – Irak Türkmen Cephesi Başkanı Erşed Salihi’nin Kerkük’teki evine bu sabah roket düştüğü bildirildi.
Salihi’ye yakın bir kaynak, bu sabah yerel saatle 05:30′da bir roketin Salihi’nin Kerkük’ün Bağdat yolu üzerindeki El Mahlac bölgesindeki evine düştüğünü, evin içinde bulunan Salihi ve ailesinin saldırıdan yara almadan kurtulduğunu belirtti. Kaynak, evde büyük çapta maddi hasar meydana geldiğini ve saldırının büyük bir ihtimalle Irak Türkmen Cephesi’nin yeni Başkanı Erşed Salihi’yi hedef almış olabileceğini dile getirdi.
Bu arada, Irak güvenlik güçlerinin Erşad Salihi’nin evinin etrafını kordon altına aldığını ve olay yerine kimseyi sokmadığı dile getirildi. Güvenlik güçlerinin roketin fırlatıldığı yeri araştırmaya başladığı bildirildi.
Irak Milli Meclisi’nde Irakiye listesinden milletvekili olan Erşed Salihi, Irak Türkmen Cephesi’nin eski Başkanı Sadettin Ergeç’in istifası üzerine geçen hafta Türkmen Cephesi Başkanlığı’na geçici olarak başkan seçilmişti.
mercredi 11 mai 2011
Azerbaycan Türklerine uygulanan Hocalı Katliamı
Yazan: Sadun KÖPRÜLÜ
Türk dünyasını her bir lgesinde, nerde bir Türk varsa kıyıcı dikta rejimler tarafından asimilasyon, katliam, soykırıma uğramışlardır ve uğramaktadırlar
Türklerin yaşamış oldukları dönemlerde kendi ana topraklarında bile Tarih boyunca Türklere karşı yapılan katliam, soykırımlarla duludur. çalışkan, kahraman, yiğit bir millet olarak.
Biz dünya Türkleri çok sayıda atabeyler, devletler, İmparatorluk kuran bir milletiz hiç bir halklara, topluluklara karşı asimilasyon, soykırım yapmadığımız için hiçbir zaman bize karşı yapılan soykırımları, zulümleri düşünmedik karşılık vermedik gönlümüzde, içimizde kin olmadığı için kimseye düşmancasına davranmadan acılarımız çabuk unutmuşuz.
Her kese kardeş diye iyilik yaparak, hoş görüyle karşılayarak,
Türkler ise hep haksız yere Batıda Viyana’dan Doğuda ise Kafkaslardan çekilmeye başladıkları dönemlerde, Kırım, Özbek, Kıbrıs, İran, Irak, Suriye, Afganistan, Batı, Doğu Türkistan, Türkmen Sahra, Bulgaristan, Balkanlarda, Azerbaycan, Çeçenistan, Türkmenistan, Tebriz, Bakıda, Kara bağda, Erbil, Musul, Kerkük’te tüm Türk yurtlarında, topraklarında soykırıma, katliama, asimilasyona uğradıkları acı olaylarla doludur.
Binlerce Türkler idam olarak, hapishaneye atılarak, sürgün oldular, tutsak hayatı yaşadılar
Hiçte unutmayalım bu kanlı baskıları, acıları, işkence olaylarını Viyana’da, Bosna’da, Mora’da, Tri Poliçe’de Balkanlar tüm Türk bölgelerinde, Bosna, İran, Irak, Suriye, Kafkaslarda, Uygur, Türkistan, Kazak, Kırgız, İrevan Hanlığında, Bakü’de, Gence’de Amerika’da Kızıl deriler soykırıma uğrayan günümüze kadar hep Türkler olmuştular.
Tarih sayfalarında bakarsak hep Türklere karşı yapılan soykırımlarla dolu olduğu görülmektedir, uzun yıllar hep Türkler sürgün olmuşlardır.
Tüm dikta rejimler tarafından Türk bölgelerinde topraklarında, idam olan işkence, baskı gören hep Türkler olmuştur.
Dünya Türklerinin büyük bir parçası olan
Azerbaycan Türkleri tarih boyunca Ruslar ve Ermeniler tarifinden uzaklaştırma, Soykırımlara Uğrayarak
1988 yılından başlayan Azerbaycan – Ermeniler savaşında Azerbaycan Türk topraklarının yüzde 20’den fazlası işgal edilerek 1 Milyondan fazla insan göçmen durumunda yaşamaya zor durumda kalmışlardır 8 milyon nüfusu olan Azerbaycan’da bir milyondan fazlası başka ülkelerde yaşamaktadırlar. Göçmen durumundadır.
Karabağ topraklarını ve Azerbaycan topraklarını işgal eden Ermeniler, büyük Ermenistan’ı” kurmak için ilk planları Azerbaycan Türklerini yerlerinden, topraklarından uzaklaştırmak, sürgün etmektir
Azerbaycan Türklerine karşı 1905-1907 yılları arasında acımasız soykırımlar Gerçekleşmiştir. Azerbaycan Türkleri daha sonra 1918-20 yıllarında ikinci defa birde yerinden güç edilerek kendi topraklarından, yurtlarından sürülmüştür.
Azerbaycan Türkleri 1948-53 yıllarında “büyük göçe” uğrayarak yaklaşık 150 bin Azeri tarihi yurtları olan Ermenistan’dan çıkarılarak üçüncü kez uzaklaşmaya maruz kalmışlardır. Son uzaklaşma, katliam, soykırım ise demokrasi söylenen modern dünyanın gözleri önünde 1988 yılında çatışmalar sonucu gerçekleşmiştir.
1988 tarihinde silahlı savaşa dönüşen Dağlık Karabağ sorunu kısa sürede cephede kazanılan askeri başarılar Ermenilerin Azerbaycan’ın içlerine kadar sokulmuşlardır. Ve Azerbaycan topraklarının yüzde 20’si birçok ülkelerin yardımıyla Ermenilerin Silahlı güçleri tarafından işgal edilmiştir.
Bu savaşta 20 binden fazla Azerbaycan Türk’ü şehit olarak 20 binin üstünde yaralanarak, 50 bin kişi sakat kalmıştır. Ve 5.101 Azerbaycan Türkü’de kayıp, tutsak olmuştur tutsak olanların 66’sı çocuklardandır.
Genelde Azerbaycan nüfusunun 1/3’ü Dağlık Karabağ savaşında zarar görmüştür. Dağlık Karabağ sorunu ile ilgili olarak da sosyal, ekonomik ve siyasal sorunlardan bütün ülke vatandaşları etkilenmektedir.
1988 yılında silahlı çatışmaya dönen Azeri-Ermeni savaşı, kısa bir sürede Azerbaycan ve Ermeniler arasında bir bölgesel büyük savaşa dönerek Ermeni silahlıları çatışma sonunda birçok devletlerin silah yardımıyla 1988 yılından ateşkesin yapıldığı 12 Mayıs 1994 tarihine kadar Dağlık Karabağ olmak üzere toplam 890 rayon, köy, kasaba ve yerleşim birimleri Azerbaycan topraklarının % 20’sini işgal etmiştir.
Dağlık Karbağ’da Azerbaycanlılar 2 şehir, 1 kasaba ve 53 köyde düşman eline geçmiştir.
Ayrıca Ermeniler
1991 Esgeran – Hadrut’u
18 Şubat 1992’de Hocavend’i,
25 Şubat 1992’de Hocalıyı,
26 Şubat 1992’de Şuşa’yı,
18 Mayıs 1992’de Laçin’i,
4 Nisan 1993’de Kelbecer’i,
23 Temmuz 1993’te Ağdam’ı,
24 Ağustos 1993’te Fuzuli’yi,
27 Ekim 1993’te Zengilan’ı,
26 Ağustos 1993’te Cebrayil’i,
31 Ağustos 1993’te Gubadlı’yı işgal etmişlerdir.
İşgal edilen 4.388 km2’lik toprak sahasına sahip Yukarı Karabağ’dan 192.300 kişi, Laçin’den (1.835 km2) 59.500 kişi, Şuşa’dan (970 km2) 29.500 kişi, Kelbecer’den (1.936 km2) 50.500 kişi, Ağdam’dan (1.093 km2) 158.000 kişi, Fuzuli’den (1.386 km2) 100.000, Cebrayil’den (1.059 km2) 51.600 kişi, Gubatlı’dan (802 km2) 30.300 kişi ve Zengilan’dan (707 km2) 33.900 kişi olmak üzere bu yerleşim birimlerinde yaşayan toplam 676.100 kişi yaşadıkları ana yurtlarından kendi topraklarımdan çıkarılarak, uzaklaştırılarak ne yazık Azerbaycan’ın içlerinde çadırlarda yaşamaktadırlar.
Dağlık Karabağ ve onun etrafındaki olan bütün şehirlerdeki tarihi Türk eserler yok edilerek, doğa ve çevreye kalıcı zararlara uğramıştır.
Ermeniler savaşta Hocalı köyünde yaşanan Türklere karşı acı soykırım başlatılarak,
Yukarı Karabağ bölgesinin en önemli tepelerinden birisinde olan Hocalı köyü stratejik bir önemli bir köy olarak Ermenilerin Silahlı güçleri askeri bir hedef olarak Karabağ dağ etrafında Ağdam-Şuşa, Eskeran-Hankendi yollarının üzerinde yerleşmişlerdir ve ele geçirerek, Hocalı’nın coğrafi-stratejik konumu tarafından Ermeni silahlı güçleri için çok onamlı olarak buraya saldırmaları çoktan planlamaktaydılar. Hocalı ise Hankendi’nin 10 km güneydoğusunda düşerek Ermeniler bu nedenle
Hocalıyı 1991 yılının Ekim ayından ablukaya almışlardır.
Ekim ayının 30’unda kara yoluyla ulaşım kapatılarak helikopter yolu ile tüm çıkış girişi engellenerek, son olarak 1992 yılının Ocak ayının 28’inde helikopter Hocalı gitmişti. Şuşa şehrinde sivil helikopterin düşürülerek 40 kişinin ölümünden sonra bu ulaşım yolu kapatılmıştır.
Baskılar sürmesiyle Ocak ayının 2’sinden şehirde elektrik kesilerek. Şubatın sonunda Hocalı, Ermeni güçleri tarafımdan ablukaya alınarak, Hocalı
Sürekli Ermeniler baskısıyla her gün toplarla, ağır silahlarla vurularak bombalanmaktaydı.
936 km2’lik alana sahip olan Hocalı Türk bölgesi ve 2.605 aileden birleşen, 11.356 kişinin yaşadığı kasaba 26 Şubat 1992 tarihinde kıyıcı Ermeniler tarafından yüzyılın en acımasız, işkenceli soykırımına maruz kalmışlardır.
Tarih boyunca uzun yıllardan bir Türk kasabası olan Hocalı birden yok edilmiştir.
Ne yazık ki bu durumda şehit olan Türk kardeşlerimiz Hocalı katliamında Azerbaycan Silahlı Kuvvetlerinin koruması altında olsaydı bu acı olay yaşanmazdı.
Kocalılar savunmasız bir durumda olarak millet ise Hocalı da dağınık halde kalarak, yalnız 150 kişinin elinde hafif silahlar bulunmaktaydı.
Azerbaycan silahlı güçleri dâhil Hocalı Türklerine hiç bir yardım edilmedi, uzun süre ne yazık cesetler yerden alınamadı bile
Ermeniler tüm varlıklarıyla her bir moderne Silahlı güçleri ile köyü üç yönden kuşatarak, helikopter ile birlikte ve ağır silahlarla her yönden köyü bombalayarak, sistemli ordusuyla köye girerek büyük katliamı Türklere karşı uygulamıştır.
Ermeniler bu köyü zorlukla tüm gücüyle işgal ederek bütün dünyaya özellikle Türk milletine karşı durmuştur.
En önemlisi de Azerbaycan Türkleri için ağır bir mesaj sayılmaktaydı.
Hocalı kasabası işgalden sonra tam olarak yok edilmiştir.
Ermeniler bu açıdan önemli bir stratejik toprağı bölgeni ele geçirerek askeri bakımdan önemli bir başarı elde etmeden konuşmaktaydı.
En doğrusuda insanlık adına Ermeniler tarihin en acımasız soykırımı gerçekleştirerek çok silahsız güçsüz, sivil insanları öldürmüştür.
Ermeniler ise bu soykırım kendileri için Türklerden bir intikamı olduğunu söylemekteydiler,
Ermeniler silahlı güçleri ile 1992 yılının 25 Şubatı 26 Şubata bölgedeki 366. Alayı ve büyük ordusuyla birçok ülkelerini desteği ile bu soykırımı uygulamadan önce tüm giriş ve çıkışları kapatarak Hocalı köyünde sivil, kadın, çocuk, yaşlı, sakat özürlü ayırımı yapmadan resmi numaralara göre 613 Türkü şehit etmiştir. Öldürülenlerin şehitlerin 83’ü çocuk, 106’sı kadın ve 7’ten fazlası ise çok yaşlıydı.
Ayrıca şiddetli bu savaşlarda Ermeniler yaşlı, kadın ve çocuk demeden acımasız baskıyla her türlü işkenceler yaparak, Türk olduklarından dolayı sivil insanları şehit ederek öldürmüştür. Bu soykırım, katliamda toplam 487 kişi ağır yaralı olmuştur.
1275 kişi ise tutsak alınmıştır ve 150 kişi ise kaybolmuştur.
Ayrıca bu kıyıcı acımasız soykırımda cesetlerin birçoğunun yakılmasıyla, gözlerinin oyulmasıyla, kulakları, burunları ve kafaları ile vücutlarının çeşitli yerlerinin kesildiği görülmekteydi.
Bunların yanında her türlü acımasız işkenceye canavarca hamile kadınlara ve çocuklara bile uygulanmıştır.
Bu acımasız Ermeni Kocalı soykırımda Türklere beslemiş olduğu kinini, düşmanlığını Türklere karşı sergileyerek katliamda acımasız çocuklar yanında kadının yüzünün yarısı kesilmesiyle, Erkeklerin kafa derisi soyulmakla, tırnakları
Sökülmesiyle çocukların kafasını yok ederek her tarafta işkenceyle öldürülmüş olduğu yüzlerde sivil bayan, çocuk ve yaşlıları öldürülmesi
‘Hocalı soykırımının büyük insanlığın faciasıdır.’
Bütün dünyanın gözleri önünde gerçekleşen bu katliama BM, AB gibi uluslararası kuruluşlar gereken özeni göstermemişler Azerbaycan topraklarının Ermeniler tarafından işgal edildiğine bile günümüze kadar sesiz kalmaları tam olarak Ermenilere vermiş oldukları desteği yansıtmaktadır.
İnsanlığa karşı işlenmiş bir büyük suç Kocalı soykırımı
Babalarının önünde çocuklarına işkence yapıp öldüren Ermeniler Sonra cesetleri buldozerlerle dereye döktürerek.
kadın, erkeklerin Altın dişlerimi kerpetenle çıkararak. Bununla çok sayıda acımadan işkenceyle Türkleri öldürmüşlerdir..
ABD’nin Hiroşima ve Nagazaki’ye attığı atom bombası binlerce insanları öldürerek, Irak Türklerinde 14 Temmuz 1959 Kerkük katliamında Peşmergeler , Komünistler yanında uzun yıllardan Türk milletini sevmeyen ve düşmancasına uzun yıllardan Kerkük katliamında bile parmağı olan Ermenilerinin Kitapçı Ojen Ermeni komünist, Perşmergelerle birleşerek, çok sayıda Irak Türklerine işkence yaparak şehit etmiştir.
Ayrıca Katliamı, 28 Mart Altunköprü katliamı Azerbaycan’ın bu savaşı kaybetmesi gibi gönüllerde büyük önemli etkisi olmuştur.
Artık tüm Türk dünyasının birleşmesiyle kanla bu haklar alınarak, işgal edilen Azerbaycan Karabağ ve tüm Türk topraklarımızı almalıyız ve bayrağımızı camlandırarak bir an önce dalgalandırmalıyız.
mardi 10 mai 2011
Boat of 600 Libyans sinks after NATO 'ignores SOS calls'
A Libyan boat carrying up to 600 people trying to flee the violence-torn country has reportedly sunk off the coast of North Africa. It follows an earlier report of 61 migrants from Libya dying from thirst and hunger on another vessel which had been adrift in the Mediterranean for over two weeks. Witnesses say NATO deliberately ignored the boat's mayday calls. Former Belgian MP Lode Vanoost - who's been outspoken on the treatment of refugees - says it shows wilful negligence.
dimanche 8 mai 2011
Canal Istanbul
By aira– May 7, 2011
Istanbul Canal (Turkish: Kanal İstanbul) is the name of the artificial sea-level waterway, which is proposed to be built by the Republic of Turkey on the European side of Turkey, connecting the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. Canal Istanbul would disect the current European side of Istanbul into two and thus create an Island between the continents of Asia and Istanbul (The Island would have a shoreline to the Black Sea, Sea of Marmara, Istanbul Canal and the Bosphorus).[1][2][3] The new waterway would bypass the current Bosphorus. Istanbul Canal aims to minimise shipping traffic in the Istanbul Strait. The project is intended for the 100th anniversary in 2023 of the foundation of the Turkish Republic.
Historical projects
The concept of a canal linking the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara was proposed seven times in the history.[4]
The first proposal was made by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (reigned 1520–1568). His architect Mimar Sinan was said to have devised plans for the project. The project was abandoned for unknown reasons.[4]
On March 6, 1591, during the reign of Sultan Murad III, an imperial ferman (order) was issued and work on the project recommenced, but again for unknown reasons the project was stoped.
In 1654 during the reign of Sultan Mehmed IV, pressure for the reccomencement of the canal was applied but to no avail.
Sultan Mustafa III (reigned 1757–1774) tried twice in 1760 but the project could not go ahead due to economic problems.
During the reign of Sultan Mahmud II, an Imperial Ottoman Committee was established to examine the project once again. A report was prepared in 1813 but no concrete steps were taken.
Finally, on January 17, 1994 shortly before the local elections, the leader of the Democratic Left Party (DSP) Bülent Ecevit proposed a canal connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara.[4][5]
Istanbul Canal
It was not until April 2009, when the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government began secret studies into the project once again and that concrete steps were taken for the revival of the project. The project was mentioned by Minister of Transport Binali Yıldırım in May 2009 at the parliament.[6] Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the “Istanbul Canal” project on April 27, 2011 during a rally held in connection with the upcoming 2011 general elections, calling it as his “crazy project” (Turkish: çılgın proje).[7]
The main purpose of the project is to reduce the marine traffic through the Bosphorus and minimize the risks and dangers associated particularly with tankers.[7][8] About 56,000 vessels pass yearly through the Istanbul Strait, among them 10,000 tankers carrying 145 million tons of crude oil. International pressure is growing to increase the marine traffic tonnage through the Turkish straits that brings risks for the security of marine navigation during the passage.[6] The canal will further help prevent the pollution caused by cargo vessels passing through or mooring in the Sea of Marmara Sea before the southern entrance of the Bosphorus.[8]
The waterway will have a length of 45–50 km (28–31 mi) with a depth of 25 m (82 ft).[7] Its width will be 150 m (490 ft) on the surface and 120 m (390 ft) at the canal bed. These dimensions will allow the largest vessels to pass.[8]
Studies relating to the project will be accomplished within two years. The canal will be in service latest in 2023, the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Republic. The project will be financed completely by domestic sources.[8]
Cost
The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality officials have stated that Istanbul Canal will cost $10 billion to build and that the financing for the development has already been allocated by the Turkish Treasury.[9][10][11] They further added that they would be relying entirely on national resources. It is envisaged that Turkish Armed Forces personnel would play a key role in the Canal’s development.
Criticism
Some critics have stated that Turkey aims to by-pass the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits and attain greater autonomy with respect to the passage of military ships from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara.[12][13]
References
1.^ “Turkey to build new waterway to bypass Bosporus”. Forbes. 2011-04-27. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/04/27/general-eu-turkey-new-waterway_8436749.html.
2.^ “Turkey plans ‘crazy’ new canal”. UK News. 2011-04-28. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jgvdu6fhcLQ4xMNHGiu9TXR-S_qQ?docId=N0140121303897060910A.
3.^ “Turkey to build waterway to bypass Bosphorus Straits”. BBC. 2011-04-27. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13207304.
4.^ a b c “1994’te Ecevit ortaya attı, manşetlere ‘mega proje’ diye yansıdı”. Hürriyet. 2011-04-28. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/ekonomi/17655112.asp. Retrieved 2011-05-01.
5.^ “”Kanal İstanbul” Ecevit’in projesi çıktı” (in Turkish). CNN Türk. 2011-04-27.
http://www.cnnturk.com/2011/yasam/diger/04/27/kanal.istanbul.ecevitin.projesi.cikti/614738.0/.
Retrieved 2011-05-01.
6.^ a b “”Çılgın proje”yi Binali Yıldırım daha önce açıklamıştı” (in Turkish). CNN Türk. 2011-04-27. http://www.cnnturk.com/2011/yasam/diger/04/27/cilgin.projeyi.binali.yildirim.daha.once.aciklamisti/614719.0/index.html.
Retrieved 2011-05-01.
7.^ a b c Çıtak, Pınar (2011-04-27). “PM Erdoğan speaks out his ‘crazy project’; İstanbul Canal”. Doğan Haber Ajansı. http://www.dha.com.tr/pm-erdogan-speaks-out-his-crazy-project-canal-istanbul-flashaber_158456.html.
Retrieved 2011-00-01.
8.^ a b c d “İstanbul’a ikinci boğaz: “Kanal İstanbul”" (in Turkish). 2011-04-29. http://www.cnnturk.com/2011/turkiye/04/27/istanbula.ikinci.bogaz.kanal.istanbul/614661.0/index.html.
Retrieved 2011-05-01.
9.^ http://www.dpcmagazine.com/login.aspx?reason=denied_empty&script_name=/secure/display.aspx&path_info=/secure/display.aspx&articlename=dn0020110505000009
10.^ http://www.sandandgravel.com/news/article.asp?v1=14551
11.^ http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/04/turkish-prime-minister-crazy-project-istanbul.php
12.^ “İstanbul Canal project to open debate on Montreux Convention”. Today’s Zaman. 2010-10-08. http://www.todayszaman.com/news-223806-istanbul-canal-project-to-open-debate-on-montreux-convention.html.
13.^ “Turkey debates whether international treaty is obstacle to plan to bypass the Bosporus”. The Washington Post. 2011-04-29. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/turkey-debates-whether-international-treaty-is-obstacle-to-plan-to-bypass-the-bosporus/2011/04/29/AFcaFrCF_story.html.
samedi 7 mai 2011
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