United Nations Security Council Urged To Intervene On The Rapidly Deteriorating Situation Of The Turkmen In Northern Iraq

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July 29, 2013

United Nations Security Council Urged To Intervene On The Rapidly Deteriorating Situation Of The Turkmen In Northern Iraq

Following a series of rapidly increasing attacks against ethnic Turkmen in Iraq, including the recent suicide attacks of 25 June 2013 in Tuz Khurmato, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and The Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) urge the United Nations to intervene against the violent terrorist activities which continue to target the Turkmen and other ethnic communities in the northern region of Iraq.

URGENT APPEAL                                                                                            FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Brussels, 29 July 2013

Further to the previous appeals to the European Parliament of February 2013 and July 8th 2013, and following a seriesof rapidly increasing attacks against ethnic Turkmen in Iraq, including the recent suicide attacks of 25 June 2013 inTuz Khurmato, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and The Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF)urge the United Nations to intervene against the violent terrorist activities which continue to target the Turkmenand other ethnic communities in the northern region of Iraq.

On 23 July 2013, at least 60 Iraqi civilians were killed or wounded in two bomb attacks targeting two mosques in
Wahid Athar, a Turkmen neighbourhood of Kirkuk. Police sources report that a first bomb exploded inside Omar bin Abdulaziz Mosque, to be followed by a second explosion in another mosque in Wahid Athar. The incidents resulted in the death of 18 worshippers and wounded at least 42 others. The innocent victims of the attacks belonged to the Turkmen community and were performing Taraweeh prayers. According to recent reports of the Iraqi Turkmen Front Human Rights Office in Kirkuk, there have been over 68 targeted attacks that have been aimed at Turkmen individuals and assemblies in the last 6 months, and violence against this ethnic community is escalating dangerously.

UNPO wishes to call on the United Nations to take immediate action in regards to this urgent situation through a peacekeeping intervention. The Iraqi government, not withholding to the principles of the Iraqi Constitution, is repeatedly failing to provide protection and safety to these communities. Terror is spreading amongst Turkmen civilians as the threat of a potential disintegration of their ethnicity becomes more and more imminent. If no action is taken, as violence continues to persist, the looming threat of a greater civil conflict is soon to become a tangible reality. It is the international community’s responsibility to therefore intervene by providing protection to these innocent civilians, in order to prevent the situation from taking an unwished and irreversible turn.

Marino Busdachin
UNPO Secretary General

Full PDF of Appeal

- See more at: http://www.unpo.org/article/16219#sthash.FMWxHhUF.dpuf