Iraqi Turkmen: Tuz Khormato Weeps For Recent Killings

Iraqi Turkmen: Tuz Khormato Weeps For Recent Killings

Frequent bombings and deadly attacks have reduced the Iraqi Turkmen region of Tuz Khormato to ruins. Residents long for peace and tranquillity, but their cries fall on deaf ears.



Below is an article published by WorldBulletin:



With continuous bombs, the Iraqi Turkmen region of Tuz Khormato has recently turned into ruins due to the recent deadly attacks targeting Turkmens.

As residents tell, Tuz Khormato was once known for its salt (tuz in Turkish) and dates (hurma in Turkish), which it was named after. However, people recently know Tuz Khormato, not for its salt or dates, but for the ongoing bombings.

The Iraqi Turkmen region of Tuz Khormato has been high on the Iraqi agenda again due to the recent suicide attack killing the Iraqi Turkmen Front's Vice President Ali Hashim Muhtaroglu and Salah ad Din Province Deputy Governor Ahmed Hodja.

Suicide bombers or other assailants with explosive-laden vehicles ended up in Tuz Khormato, causing a slaughter.

Since the attacks, residents of Tuz Khormato live on their nerves, unable to estimate when and from where another possible bombing will come upon them. Insisting that the Iraqi government set up a security force to protect them, the demands of Tuz Khormato Turkmens fall on deaf ears.

Turkmens strive to protect themselves counting on their own means, but hardly could.

Enholding 180,000 residents, Tuz Khormato now resembles a wreckage. Having its Turkmen, Kurdish and Arab neighborhoods split by clear cut lines, Tuz Khormato streets are full of iron or concrete barriers at the entrance and people keep watch of the streets.

The streets are also full of harrowing stories of slayings and of the violent attacks on Turkmens.

“We have several martyrs because of the attacks” told the Head of Iraqi Turkmen Front's Salah ad Din Province Haydar Kasapoglu, asking "Why are the Turkmen regions always the target of the bombings?"

A Turkmen resident Hani Mehdi noted “We are being slaughtered. You can see what our city has turned into. This is a deliberate policy against us. We are the target of bilateral attacks. For being Turkmen and Shiite, we are exposed to both sectarian and ethnic violence."