mardi 20 décembre 2011

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM TURKMEN MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM TURKMEN MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT


The attacks against the Turkmen were once again denounced by an announcement published by Turkmen Members of Parliament. In the joint announcement published by Turkmen MP’s a demand to stop the attacks, kidnappings and murders directed at Turkmen was made and it was underlined that the Presidency, Prime Ministry as well as the Parliamentary Offices must intervene.
Members of Parliament Erşet Salihi, Hasan Bayatlı, Abbas Bayatlı, Jele Neftçi and Müdrike Ahmet were present at the Press Conference.

Head of Iraqi Turkmen Front and Kirkuk MP Erşet Salihi read the statement to the press. He said that the government and parliament have maintained their silence regarding the attacks against Turkmen and that it was crucial that the Presidency, Prime Ministry and Parliamentary Office intervene to stop the attacks.

In his speech Erşat Salihi indicated that the attacks against Turkmen were being discussed by the Human Rights Commission of the European Parliament and appealed to President Celal Talabani. Erşat Salihi demanded that Celal Talabani convenes the representatives of political groups to intervene in the attacks against Turkmen.

Kirkuk MP Erşet Salihi said that if the Iraq government did not take necessary action to stop the attacks against Turkmen and arrest the culprits then they would be obliged to apply to international authorities.

Another Turkmen MP, Abbas Bayatlı also demanded that a commission consisting of the Presidency, Prime Ministry and Parliamentary Offices be established in Kirkuk and that serious action be taken to stop the acts of violence against Turkmen.



kerkuk.net

samedi 17 décembre 2011

Avrupa Parlementosunda Irak Turkmenler insan Haklari (gorusler1)






• Avrupa Parlementosunda Irak Turkmenler insan Haklari (gorusler1)

Iraq's minorities need action from EU, By Metin KAZAK, Bulgarian MEP from ALDE

Iraq's minorities need action from EU



No easy solution and time is running out


ARTICLE
DECEMBER 17, 2011 - 10:06AM
BY METIN KAZAK,BULGARIAN MEP FROM ALDE







When people are kidnapped in Kirkuk they disappear. Some do return to their families, after large ransoms are paid, while others become the victims of their kidnappers. Bombings are a daily occurrence and no one knows the target of two terrorists that accidently killed themselves assembling a bomb on 11 December.

It is no wonder that the Turkmen community of Kirkuk and other so-called disputed areas are under siege. Many are searching either for a way out or the support at home and abroad needed to sustain their centuries-old communities that, like others, have been rocked by the instability that is only now beginning to ebb away from Iraq.

As many of my colleagues that deal with Iraq have agreed, the European Union has to play a more joined-up and constructive role in Iraq as the United States draws down its forces before exiting completely on 31 December 2011.

To date, I have not seen the signs that this is happening. This sentiment is shared amongst colleagues, civil society, and observers from all manner of backgrounds, party, and experience. The EU’s delegation within Iraq remains woefully small, under-resourced, and under-staffed.

More worrying is the complacent, or at worst disengaged, attitude that seems to characterise the approach to Iraq from the European Commission, and newly formed EEAS. The EU has projected itself as an international actor and has been believed, especially by those that follow it from afar, and in this I include Kirkuk.

Kirkuk reflects many of the gnawing deficiencies within Iraq today. The 2005 constitution has still to be formally adopted, a process for normalising relations between communities remains dormant, and all the while demographic change, dislocation and insecurity is eating away at Turkmen communities, livelihoods and futures as the city’s cultural fabric is eroded bomb by bomb.

Every week, Turkmen professionals, including much-needed doctors, are leaving after facing death threats, intimidation or discrimination in the workplace. Their children have limited prospects, with little if any tuition in their mother tongue, excluded from state jobs, and with no signs that the thousands of property claims will be resolved soon.

But when the Subcommittee on Human Rights convened on 5 December 2011 it did so with a clear desire – to raise awareness of the situation facing the Turkmen of Iraq and to make the first step in identifying the action that can – and should – be taken to safeguard the future of Iraq’s communities, of which Turkmen are the third largest.

It was a meeting that had been long overdue, and the interest from colleagues and the public was a demonstration of the European Parliament acting in concert with the real interests of policymakers and European citizens.

The message from invited academics was also clear, namely that the situation in Kirkuk is acute and the risks are real. In identifying the dangers, the existing and mostly failed initiatives to solve them, and drawing comparisons I believe we are closer to understanding one of the world’s most complex conflicts.

We cannot pretend that a solution is easy or imminent but we know that time is running out. The coming year will be a time when my colleagues and I intend to support the discussions into community security, property reparations, multi-lingual education, confidence building measures, and parliamentary capacity building needed to help make a solution realisable. The European institutions must be part of this and I hope to bring to their attention the realities facing Turkmen and their neighbours today.

Soon a new year will be dawning for the EU in Iraq, and with this must come resolutions. The EU must resolve to demonstrate its commitment to the people of Iraq as a whole and to the Turkmen in particular. As a community, the Turkmen have been listening to the EU make promises for too long and for almost a decade they have seen nothing. That must change in 2012.

About the Author

Metin Kazak, Bulgarian MEP from ALDE
http://www.neurope.eu/article/iraqs-minorities-need-action-eu

mercredi 7 décembre 2011

Avrupa Parlementosunda Turkmen Haklari Gorusmeleri (youtube)


From left to right: Mr Metin Kazak, MEP - Prof. Ibrahim Sirkeci - EEAS Representative - Ms. Barbara Lochbihler, Chair - Prof Stephan Wolff - Mr. Hasan Özmen

PUBLIC HEARING ON HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION OF TURKMEN IN IRAQ
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BRUSSELS
5 DECEMBER 2011

Avrupa Parlementosunda Turkmen Haklari Gorusmeleri (youtube)




















Please click on the links hereunder:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8UajdVbaK8


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiZXEjp1-6I


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c02ZWbQJtQ


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N55vh9qv-Iw


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2_sEBCDW5w

vendredi 2 décembre 2011

Further destruction of Iraq's Higher Education: Blazing fires, forged degrees and silencer guns

by Dirk Adriaensens, member of the BRussells Tribunal executive Committee

(01 December 2011)

“Fire and gunpowder do not sleep together”….except in Iraq.



Please click on the link below to read the article:

http://www.brussellstribunal.org/pdf/HigherEducation011211.pdf

jeudi 1 décembre 2011

Hearing on Human rights situation of Turkmen in Iraq at the European Parliament Brussels


Subcommittee on Human Rights

Public Hearing on

Human rights situation of Turkmen in Iraq



5 December 2011



15.30 – 16.30



Room: Altiero Spinelli (ASP) 1 G 2

European Parliament, Brussels





Draft Programme



1. Introductory remarks by Mr Metin Kazak, MEP



2. Professor Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security at the University of Birmingham,

On minority rights in Iraq and prospects for the Iraqi Turkmen within Iraq



3. Mr Hasan Özmen, Member of Parliament, Council of Representatives of Iraq,

On the plight of the Iraqi Turkmen since 2003



4. Professor Ibrahim Sirkeci, Director of the Centre for Transnational Studies at Regent’s College,

On the effects of migration and the future security of the Iraqi Turkmen



5. EEAS Representative



6. Discussion



7. Concluding remarks by Ms Barbara Lochbihler, Chair







The hearing can be followed online:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/homeCom.do?language=EN&body=DROI